Youth Unemployment Rate Increased to 23.3 in Q1

TIRANA, June 11

The Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) released on Friday the report on employment data in Albania for the first quarter of 2021 (Q1). According to the data, the employment rate for people aged 15-64 in Q1 was 59.0 percent or 2.6 percent lower compared to Q1 2020. Moreover, the unemployment rate for people over the age of 1 was 11.9 percent, or 0. 5 percent higher compared to Q1 2020.
In the meantime, the overall participation of young people aged 15-29 in the labor market was 50.7 percent. The youth employment rate was 38.9 percent while the unemployment rate was 23.3 percent or 3.3 percent higher compared to Q1 2020.
According to the data, 9 percent of unemployed young people were discouraged workers.

Albania experiences a persistent mismatch between the skills needed in the labor market and those offered by the workforce. Despite this fact, Albanian students continue choosing study programs that don’t make a good match with the labor market. On the other hand, the number of high school graduates choosing a study program in ICT increased during recent years. Yet, they leave Albania as soon as they gain enough experience.

Support for the BPO sector in Albania would help increase the employment rate for young people as well as their skillset.

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

Source: INSTAT