The fight against informality in employment, Albania stands at the top! The study reveals the latest findings: The phenomenon in our country is 3 times that of the region

While the countries of the region have taken steps forward in the fight against informality in the labor market, Albania is standing in the last place, according to the study on the progress of the labor market in the Western Balkans that was recently conducted by the Vienna International Institute for Economic Studies.

As can be seen from the graph below in North Macedonia and Serbia, informality in the labor market has gradually decreased year after year, to 12-13% of total employment in 2021 from 22% in 2014.

With one action in the years 2015-2016, Albania somewhat reduced informality in the labor market, bringing the indicator to 35% from more than 50% that was in 2014.

The graph of the Vienna experts shows that from 2017 to 2021 there is no improvement, on the contrary there is a slight upward trend of informality in the labor market.

Experts from Vienna state that informal employment has continued to decline in the countries of the Western Balkans in 2021.

Only Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia publish official data on informal employment, calculated from the Labor Force Survey, including the self-employed in unregistered businesses, paid workers without a contract and unpaid family workers.

"In the last decade, informality has a downward trend in all three countries, but in recent years the developments have been different.

In North Macedonia and Serbia, informal employment fell in both 2020 and 2021, while it stagnated in Albania.

North Macedonia and Serbia had a similar level of informal employment (about 12-13% of the total), while in Albania, the weight was significantly higher (37%), the study emphasizes.

Unemployment remains a major problem for young people in the region. In 2021, unemployment of the age group (15-24) was over 25% in all countries and up to 38% in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo.

Që nga pandemia, grupmoshat e ndryshme në rajon kanë dëshmuar tendenca të ndryshme në dinamikat e papunësisë. Në Kosovë dhe Serbi, shkalla e papunësisë ka rënë ndjeshëm tek të rinjtë (15-24 vjeç), ku Kosova pati rënie mbresëlënëse prej 11.4 pikë për qind.

Në të kundërt, në Shqipëri dhe Maqedoninë e Veriut, përmirësimi më i dukshëm u vu re në moshën e mesme, por jo për të rinjtë.

Në Mal të Zi, i vetmi grup që përjetoi rënie të papunësisë ishin të moshuarit (55-64 vjeç), ndërsa të rinjtë panë një rritje prej 12 pikë përqindje në shkallën e tyre të papunësisë.