Albanian citizens believe that their country is the most corrupt compared to all other Western Balkan countries, according to the latest results of the Regional Cooperation Council’s (RCC) Balkan Barometer for the year 2023.
38% of the surveyed Albanians consider corruption a significant problem for the country’s economy.
This perception is the highest in the region in 2023, with a difference of 12 percentage points compared to the second-ranked country, Bosnia and Herzegovina with 26%, and North Macedonia also with 26%.
For Montenegro and Serbia, the indicator is 25%, while citizens of Kosovo have the lowest perception of corruption in the Western Balkans, at 22%. The regional average is 27%.
The percentage of Albanians who believe that corruption is a concern for the country’s economy has significantly increased compared to a year earlier when the indicator was 27%, ranking the country third after Bosnia and Herzegovina (34%) and Serbia (28%).
Unlike all other countries in the Balkans, only Albania has experienced such a high deterioration in the perception of corruption. North Macedonia has recorded a slight increase of one percentage point, while in other states, citizens’ perception of corruption has declined, especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The most important concern for Albanian citizens is the economy, with 50% of respondents saying so. However, this level ranks third in the region, after North Macedonia (55%) and Montenegro (51%), and at similar levels with Serbia.
Another issue that is more concerning for Albanian citizens than for other countries in the region is brain drain and emigration.
41% of surveyed Albanians believe that the departure of their compatriots and emigration are significant problems, much higher than in other states and the regional average of 26%.
Albanian citizens are not concerned about crime, with only 10% of them considering it a problem, the lowest in the region. Montenegro holds the record for this indicator with 17%.
Kosovo citizens have an interesting perception of the problems they believe their economy has.
While they are less concerned about the economic situation in the region (26%, compared to the regional average of 47%), they consider the education system a very important problem, with 34%, compared to the regional average of 11%. In contrast, only 3% of surveyed Albanians see the education system as a major problem for their economy.
For the ninth consecutive time, the Regional Cooperation Council publishes the results of the Balkan Barometer – an annual survey conducted with six thousand citizens from across the Western Balkans, providing an overview of their opinions on regional cooperation, EU integration, trust in public institutions and media, their major concerns, employment, climate change, security, digital life, transportation, rule of law, travel, etc.
