Where are the 4 thousand young people who are "missing" this year? The labor market/ Age group 15-29 years old, in the "trap" of inactivity and emigration
The employment rate in the first three months of the year reached 58.3% for the population over 15 years old, a modest increase compared to the previous quarter. However, the total number of employees decreased by 0.8% in annual terms, a contrast that raises questions about the quality and sustainability of jobs.
On the other hand, the official unemployment rate for the population aged 15 and over is 8.7%. This indicator has decreased by 0.1 percentage points both in the first quarter of 2024 and compared to the previous quarter.
The unemployment rate for young people aged 15-29 is 17.9%, significantly higher than the national average, although with a slight decrease. Meanwhile, the employment rate for the same age group is estimated at 44.8%, with an increase from the same period last year and the previous quarter.
Despite the slight improvement suggested by some official indicators, the data show a different reality for Albanian youth. In the space of a year, around 4,000 young people (aged 15–29) have “disappeared” from the labor market, signaling a worrying withdrawal of this age group from economic engagement. According to INSTAT data, in the first quarter of 2024, the number of young people employed was 185,862, while in the same quarter of 2025 it fell to 181,637. This means that 4,225 young people have left the labor market within a year, a figure that cannot be explained by seasonal fluctuations alone.
But in reality, the decrease in unemployment is not due to an increase in jobs, but mostly to inactivity and emigration. In other words, more young people are no longer employed or actively looking for work. The number of inactive young people in the labor market is estimated at around 185 thousand in the first three months of the current year.
Only 54.5% of young people are part of the labor force, and 72.7% of those economically inactive are still in school or training. A significant percentage of them are simply withdrawn from the market, discouraged, with no motivation to look for work.
Essentially, Albania is experiencing a painful paradox: unemployment is falling on paper, but youth participation in the labor market is declining. As young people leave the market, another part of them is leaving the country.
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