TIRANA, October 16
While Albania experiences a persistent mismatch between the skills needed in the labor market and those offered by the workforce, law and business remained the most popular university subjects among Albanian youth even for the 2019-2020 academic year.
On the other hand, a higher number of high school graduates chose subjects that make a good match with the labor market demand. Hence, tourism and hospitality-related subjects and Communication Technology (ICT) saw a higher number of students in the new academic year, over 10,000 or 22 percent more. Yet, the majority of students that graduate in ICT leave Albania as soon as they gain enough experience. On their part, Albanian authorities are trying to reduce this trend by providing tax icentives to ICT companies in Albania, thus making the country attarcting for software and web development outsourcing.
Official data confirm that the number of students enrolled in university for the 2019-2020 academic year (139,043) increased by five percent compared to the previous year.
Data from 2018-2019 confirm that over one fourth or 33,447 students chose law, business or administration. The second most preferred university subject was healthcare and well-being. Just like the ICT graduates even the students that graduate in medicine and healthcare prefer to leave Albania for other countries especially Germany.
According to a study conducted by Together for Life in 2018, the number of Albanian doctors who graduated in Albanian schools and working in Germany was 521 (data by the German Chamber of Doctors).
Further on, the third most appealing subject to Albanian students was Civil Engineering, with over 20,019 students enrolled.
The list continues with Arts and Human Sciences, Social Sciences, Journalism and Communication, Education Sciences, and ICT.
On the other hand, the growing tourism and hospitality industry in Albania requires a more qualified workforce. This trend was reflected in a 39 percent growth of students enrolled in tourism-related subjects. Meanwhile, the number of students in Natural Sciences, Mathematics, and Statistics increased by 12 percent.
Two of the sectors that contribute to most jobs in Albania are Agriculture and services, yet they have the lowest number of students’ enrolments respectively 4,999 and 4,279.
Read also:
20 Most-in-Demand Jobs in Albania in 2018
What Are the Top Career Choices of Albanian Students?
Source: Monitor/INSTAT
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