For most of the chart, Albania’s old-age-dependency ratio — the number of older residents relative to the working-age population — followed a gradual, one-directional climb. The readings increased every year from 2014 through 2023, then make a visibly larger step to the latest point.
There is no observation for 2024, so the data cannot show whether that change happened abruptly or accumulated across the two-year interval. The new high is also a record only within this series, which begins in 2014, not an all-time national record.
The European comparison shows how quickly the gap has narrowed. Albania’s ratio was 17.5 in 2014, against 28.4 for the EU benchmark. By 2025, the readings were 33.3 and 34.5 respectively. Albania also stood above the 40-country comparison average of 31.3.
Albania’s official population overview attributes the rising ratio to birth rates below the level needed to replace the population, longer life expectancy and emigration that disproportionately removes working-age residents. That last factor matters: the ratio can rise not only because the older population grows, but because the population beneath it shrinks.
This is not literally a count of workers supporting pensioners. The population aged 15 to 64 includes students and people without jobs, while some people over 65 remain employed. But it is a useful warning about the balance behind pensions and public services: a smaller potential workforce must finance retirement benefits, healthcare and elder care for a relatively larger older population.