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"Depopulation, the biggest plague"/ Nora Malaj: Young people don't want to leave

2026-07-04 17:46:00, Aktualitet CNA

The former Deputy Minister of Education considers Albania's depopulation the biggest wound facing Albanian society today. In an interview with CNA TV, she stated that the departure of young people is not their desire, but a consequence of the lack of opportunities and supportive policies.

According to her, mass emigration is creating a deep demographic crisis, with long-term consequences for the country's development. She argued that the shrinking active labor force risks undermining economic balances and the financing of the state budget. The former deputy minister also stressed that young couples face a lack of social policies that would encourage them to build a life and family in Albania.

According to her, if this trend continues, the country will face an increasingly aging population and a growing number of elderly people living alone. She described this as one of the biggest challenges that requires immediate intervention from institutions.

"It is the biggest wound that we are going through as a society and it is one of the biggest challenges that young people are protesting about today. And you hear one of the strongest calls is that we do not want to leave our country, we want to be here. I do not see this as a simple movement... I think it is a somewhat programmed movement, it is a tendency to depopulate the country to turn the country into an oasis of geopolitical interests. I think this is one of the biggest challenges of what is called and is related to the demographic movement. Which means on the one hand the workforce that is more active and that should maintain all of what is called the state budget and the demographic balance have left the country. On the other hand the number of births is not high, it is not increasing. On the other hand married couples do not have social policies to meet their needs and all this turns into a boomerang crisis where the elderly will turn into lonely identities and this is very painful for what I am saying. ", said Nora Malaj.