Births, Dibra suffers the strongest blow within the year/ Gjirokastra and Korça lead the long-term contraction, Tirana resists
The decline in births has deepened significantly in 2025, confirming a negative trend that is affecting the entire country. Compared to 2024, nationally, births fell by 8.1%, from 23,310 to 21,425 babies. There is no region that has recorded an increase, but the contraction is general and of varying intensity.
Dibra has suffered the hardest hit in a year. Births fell from 1,095 to 872, or 20.4% less, which is considered the highest decline in the country. Korça follows, with a contraction of 18.5%, dropping from 1,181 to 963 births, or 218 babies less than a year ago. These two regions stand out for the strong acceleration of the decline, well above the national average.
Another wave of double-digit declines includes Fier, Elbasan and Vlora. Fier recorded 12.7% fewer births, Elbasan 12.4%, while Vlora also 12.4%. Durrës, one of the regions with the greatest economic and demographic weight, also recorded a decline of 11.7%, losing over 300 births within the year and dropping to 2,312 babies.
Lezha recorded a contraction of 11.2%, Kukës 10%, while Gjirokastra 10.4%, remaining the region with the lowest absolute number of births, with only 301 per year. Shkodra recorded a decrease of 9.7%, while Berat 8.6%. The lowest decline in the country was recorded in Tirana, with 2% fewer births compared to 2024. However, the capital has also entered a negative trajectory, dropping to 8,830 births, although it remains the region with the largest share in the national total.
If the analysis is extended over a 15-year period, the picture becomes even more dire. Compared to 2011, births nationwide have fallen by 37.5%, from 34,285 to 21,425. In some regions, the decline has exceeded half the level at that time.
Gjirokastra and Korça lead the long-term contraction, with 59.5% and 59.3% fewer births, respectively, than in 2011. They are followed by Dibra with 55.8%, Kukës with 54.6% and Berat with 54.3%. Fier, Vlora and Elbasan have also lost about half of their births in a decade and a half.
Tirana is the least affected, with a decline of only 7.5% in 15 years, which shows the concentration of the population in the capital. Durrës has recorded a contraction of 32.3%, Shkodra with 40.3% and Lezha with 46.3%, positioning itself in the middle of the spectrum.
The data speak of a demographic crisis that is no longer episodic, but structural. While some regions are emptying at a rapid pace, Tirana remains the only pole that is partially cushioning the decline.
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