From: Exit Staff
According to the latest Eurostat data, almost half of the Albanian population is at risk of being poor.
The study looked at data from 27 EU member states to see how they were at risk of poverty and social exclusion during 2020. Albania’s indicator was twice the EU average, with 43.4% of the population at risk of poverty. After Albania, Montenegro has the highest level of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion with 38%, followed by Romania with 34.4% Turkey with 34%, North Macedonia with 32.6%, Bulgaria with 31.7%, and Serbia with 29.8%.
According to definitions from Eurostat, the risk of being poor or social exclusion refers to individuals who are deeply materially deprived or living in households with very low employment intensity. It also refers to those who struggle to meet the cost of essential items.
In Albania, the rate of material deprivation of 34.7% refers to the percentage of individuals in families who cannot afford 4 out of 9 categories of essentials. These include being able to pay the loan or rent instalments, being able to pay for a one-week holiday once a year, being able to afford meat, chicken, or fish once every two days, the ability to meet unforeseen financial expenses, unable to afford a phone, the economic impossibility of having a TV, being unable to afford a washing machine, inability to have a car and the failure to keep the house warm in winter.
Low work intensity is another subcategory for people at risk of poverty, and in Albania, this indicator was at 34.7%.
During the same year, among the European union members, the countries with the most people at risk of poverty or social exclusion were Romania with 34% Bulgaria with 32%, Greece and Spain most 28%. Those with the number of people at the least risk of poverty were recorded in the Czech Republic with 11%, Slovenia 13%, and Finland at 14%
Meanwhile official data from INSTAT found that 43% of employees in the country had a monthly salary of less than or up to €330. Almost half of those employed in the country officially receive a salary that is near to the minimum wage of 32,000 lek per month but the government has announced that it will increase to 34,000 lek.
