Artan P쳮aska
apernaska@tiranatimes.com
A presentation of the preliminary results of the Living Standard Measurement Survey (23.04.2009) by the National Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) shows the poverty indicators reduced compared to the previous measurement. According to data from INSTAT, 12.4 % of the Albanian population was poor in 2008, against 18.5 % in 2005 and 25.4 % in 2002. Over the last decades, this is the third time that the living standards are being measured with the same methodology. The survey was supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the World Bank (WB) and the polling was carried out during the months of June-August 2008. The previous measurements were conducted at an earlier period (April-June 2002, May-June 2005). Nearly 3,600 representative families were polled in 4 broadly defined regions: coastal, central, mountainous and capital (the region of Tirana).
The UNDP Albania Country Director, Mr. Norimasa Shimomura, stressing the economic progress since 2005 (the last survey), stated that the Living Standard Measurement Survey (LSMS) will not reflect the effects of the global crisis, but might give some early indications. The WB Country Manager, Ms. Camille Nuamah, underlined that the survey was completed at a most opportune moment, just before the global crisis manifested, and that not many countries can today afford this advantage.
Both UNDP and WB representatives complimented the local capacities for conducting the survey, giving INSTAT credit and appraisal. The preliminary results presented by the INSTAT give a large reduction in poverty in rural areas, stressing that poverty may actually not be a problem which is essentially rural. Mountainous areas still continue to have the highest incidence of poverty and have even had a small poverty increase in their rural zones, whereas a small decrease was noted for the urban zones.
But while overall poverty reduction was expected and corresponds to an on-going tendency, according to analyst Artan Hoxha from the Institute of the Contemporary Studies, the extreme mountainous poverty will be harder to extricate.
The region of Tirana also experienced a slight increase, which is a landmark questioning point for further analysis. The preliminary results will be subsequently completed with the elaboration of all the collected data from INSTAT and with analytical work from both the statistical institution and fore-standing economic and social observers.
As far as the elaborated data, INSTAT and the WB experts noted that poverty reduction in 2008 affects both the depth of poverty and the severity of poverty. The poverty depth indicators demonstrate how far from the poverty line the poor are, and the poverty severity indicators demonstrate how poor they are and gives an evaluation of inequality among the poor. The preliminary results of the LSMS showed that both indicators have been reduced.
