Life expectancy in Albania reached 79.1 years in 2022, marking a 1.5-year difference from the European Union average. This places Albania ahead of all of Southeast Europe, according to Eurostat data.
Albania managed to recover its life expectancy, which had declined during the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2022, the indicator returned to the level seen in 2019. Meanwhile, Europe as a whole has not yet reached the life expectancy recorded in 2019. Across the 27 EU member states, life expectancy stood at 80.6 years in 2022, down from 81.3 in 2019.
The highest life expectancy in the EU was observed in the Spanish region of Comunidad de Madrid (85.2 years), followed by the Autonomous Province of Trento in Italy (84.4 years), Île-de-France in France (84.1 years), Stockholm in Sweden (84.0 years), and Comunidad Foral de Navarra in Spain (83.9 years).
Conversely, among the 5 EU regions with the lowest life expectancy, 4 were located in Bulgaria: Severozapaden (72.3 years), Severen Tsentralen (73.2 years), Yugoiztochen (73.7 years), Severoiztochen (74.1 years); and one in Hungary, Észak-Magyarország (74.1 years).
For women in the EU, life expectancy at birth was 83.3 years in 2022 (up by 0.4 compared to 2021, but down by 0.7 compared to 2019). For men, it was 77.9 years (an increase of 0.7 years compared to 2021, but a decrease of 0.6 compared to 2019).
In Albania, life expectancy for women was 80.9 years and for men it was 77.4 years, marking a difference of 3.5 years in 2022.
In 2022, life expectancy at birth for women in the EU was 5.4 years longer than that for men, with variations among EU countries. In Latvia, women were expected to live 10 years longer than men, followed by Estonia and Lithuania (both 8.7 years).
The smallest gender gaps were observed in the Netherlands (2.9 years), Ireland (3.3 years), and Sweden (3.4 years).
Life expectancy in Albania has improved significantly since the mid-20th century.
In the 1950s, Albanians lived on average only 54.4 years according to official data from the Institute of Statistics (INSTAT). However, since then, life expectancy has increased by 45% until 2022.
Historical data over the last 70 years show that the greatest improvement occurred in the two decades between 1950 and 1970, with life expectancy increasing by 18 years or 33%.
From 54.4 years in 1950, the average life expectancy in 1970 reached 72.3 years. Since then, the rate of increase in life expectancy in Albania has slowed. The population of Albania has undergone significant changes over the past 30 years.
This transformation is primarily due to changes in the economic system, transitioning from a centralized economy to an open market system, which has affected birth rates, mortality rates, migration patterns, and undoubtedly will impact the future demographic trends in Albania.
