As number of young workers declines, over 65s working at higher rates
Story Highlights
- Like elsewhere in Europe, the elderly will be increasingly included in the labor market in Albania, because the increase in life expectancy makes people over the age of 65 productive.
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TIRANA, March, 25, 2023 - While Albania’s employment indicators have improved year over year, since 2020, the number of employed people is decreasing in the younger population groups, while it is increasing among the elderly.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, there were about 52,500 more people employed than in the same quarter of 2021, or about 4 percent more, according to the latest INSTAT data
But employment by age group showed that for the same period, employment in the 15-29 age group was declining. In October-December 2022, there were 807 fewer employed people among young people up to 30 years old.
In October-December 2022, 274,526 young people (15-29 years old) were employed, or about 9,000 people less than in the same period of 2018.
On the other hand, employment in the age group over 30 increased by about 65,000 people.
INSTAT reports that 54,500 retirement-eligible people were employed in the last quarter of 2022, as the Labor Force Survey also asks people of retirement age whether they are engaged in work.
Like elsewhere in Europe, the elderly will be increasingly included in the labor market in Albania, because the increase in life expectancy makes people over the age of 65 productive.
Working retirement-age people help unburden the social insurance schemes, which appear to be quite burdened by the process of population aging.
The Social Security Institute predicts that in the next three years, the number of pensioners added to the social security scheme will reach 48,000, with an average annual addition of 16,000 new retirees per year, according to a report by Monitor magazine..
Because this year Albania's population will enter the process of rapid population aging, the number of retirees will continue to grow at a faster rate.
To encourage the group age over-65s to work, the government approved a bonus scheme in 2018, which is not yet being implemented.
The government’s decision meant that for each year of work, the working retiree will receive an additional 2.4 percent per year in their pension sum.
