Albania is among the countries with the highest proportion of women in government cabinets, on par with Finland.

However, despite being more educated, women continue to be paid less than men in the majority of professions. Even at home, men hold the power, controlling bank accounts in their names, and are more likely to take out loans.

Men are paid more than women

Men are paid more than women in the majority of professions. Data from the Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) show that the average salary for men saw a faster increase in 2022 compared to women.

On average, an employee in the country was paid 61,898 lek gross per month in 2022, with a nominal increase of 8.2%.

For men, the average salary was 63,773 lek, with an increase of 9.2%.

For women, the average salary reached 59,813 lek, or 7.3% more than a year earlier.

The faster pace of salary increases for men compared to women deepened the gender pay gap. In 2022, women were paid 6.2% less than men, compared to a 4.2% decrease in the gap in 2021.

Out of 36 professional groups reported by INSTAT, only in 5 of them are women paid more.

The field where women “excel” is in management. According to INSTAT, women in the professional group “Administrative and Commercial Directors” had an average monthly gross salary of 189,393 lek in 2022. This level is not only the highest-paid among all professional groups in the country but also 11.1% higher than men. Compared to a year earlier, the salary for this professional group increased by about 10%, both for men and women.

Employees in electro-technology professions are another group where women earn more than men. The salary for women in this group is 64,365 lek, or 10.7% more than men.

In two other professions, “Service and Assistant Workers” and “Personal Service and Defense Workers”, women earn 1.3% and 1.1% more than men, respectively.

Administration is the institution that does not “discriminate” against women in terms of salary, as “Legislators, senior state administration officials, and executive directors” receive the same pay, around 92,000 lek per month.

While men are preferred in education, being paid nearly 80,000 lek per month, or 12% more than women in the same profession.

Even in healthcare, there is a difference. The professional group “Health Specialists” pays men 85.8 thousand lek per month, or 13.8% more than women. For “Specialized Health Assistants”, the monthly salary for men is 65.8 thousand lek, or about 8% more than women in the same profession.

The highest difference between female and male workers is in production, with the industry paying men 24.6% more than women.

Women are more educated!

Despite being paid less than men, women have a higher level of education. According to INSTAT, girls are more likely to attend university than boys. In total, 21.3% of women over 25 have completed higher education, compared to 18.2% of men.

In parliament, men dominate, but women have taken “power” in government

In 1920, there were no women in the Albanian Parliament. The socialist era may be known for dictatorship, but at least during the period from 1970 to 1990, women accounted for 30% of the Parliament. With the advent of democracy, legislative power returned to men, who dominated with nearly 94% of participation in this high institution in 2011. In the last decade, women’s participation in Parliament has increased again, reaching a historic record of 36% participation in 2021-2022, although still a minority compared to men.

However, if there is a place where women dominate, it is in governance. In the current government, out of 16 ministers, 10 are led by female ministers. At the end of 2023, Albania ranked first in the world for the participation of women in the government cabinet, with 67% of the total, followed by Finland with 64%, and Spain with 64%, according to the Women’s Empowerment Index, published by the CFR program for women and foreign policy. Currently, this proportion has decreased to 62.5% after recent changes in the government, which removed one female minister and added one male minister.

Unlike the government, men dominate in administration. According to INSTAT, the percentage of women in managerial positions was 35% in 2022, down from 35.5% the previous year.

Women live longer than men, the age group 35-39 has more men than women

Due to genetics or a more careful lifestyle, women live longer than men. According to INSTAT, life expectancy at birth is 80.9 years for women and 77.3 years for men.

Women marry at an average age of 27.7 years, while men at 31.2 years.

In the country, according to INSTAT, there are 2.77 million residents. Of these, 1.4 million or 50.4% are women, while 1.37 million are men.

More boys are born in Albania than girls. According to INSTAT, in the age group 1-4 years, girls are 48.5%. For the age group 20-24 years, the population is divided equally. The age group with more men than women is 35-39 years.

Over 40 years old, there are more women than men, due to their higher emigration after the ‘90s.

In the age group over 70 years, women dominate due to their higher life expectancy.