Employment, statistics contradictions
01/05/2012 19:30
Albanian sign language branch is opened for the first time at the Faculty of Foreign Languages 05/10 21:12
According to the Albanian Institute of Statistics, the official
unemployment figures in Albania were 13.29% by the end of 2011. This
INSTAT indicator shows Albania as a country with almost equal
unemployment levels with the EU countries.
But when one compares other indicators, suspicions could rise that the unemployment figures might not be showing the reality. The biggest suspicion come from the employment norm, that shows what part of the population from 15-64 years of age actually has a job.
By the end of 2011, the employment norm in Albania was 42.3%, among the lowest in Europe and less than other under development countries.
In the EU, where the population is even older, the employment norm is more than 64%, or 20% more than our country.
With the employment figures published by Instat, Albania is one of the most active populations in Europe, although our country has the youngest average age in the continent. This has two explanations for the economists: either the Albanians don’t want to work, or the official figures are not real.
Employment poverty
By the end of last year, Albania counted 917.000 employed people. The sector with the highest number of employed people is agriculture, with 507.000 people. Ranked second was industry, with 85.000 Albanians and then commerce, transportation and communication.
But the ranking changes when these sectors are compared with the contribution that the national economies are giving. According to the Institute of Statistics, Agriculture, although it has employed most of the Albanians, guarantees only 20% of the GDP.
The second industry by the largest number of employers goes on the fourth place for the national contribution. The commerce and hotel sector, which is third by number of employees, is actually the first contributor in the GDP.
The explanation for this ranking is connected with the productivity. In agriculture, in which 54.3% of the Albanians are employed, the added value contributes 3500 USD for each employee per year, the lowest in the list.
Industry is another sector where the added value for worker is low, only 12.100 USD annually. The sector with the highest productivity is construction. The low added value in agriculture and industry is related with the lack of investments in both sectors.
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