In the fourth quarter of 2025, the labor market in Albania shows some positive signals: employment has increased and wages have improved.
According to data from the Institute of Statistics (INSTAT), the labor force participation rate for the 15-64 age group reached 75.9%, with an increase of 0.4 percentage points compared to the same period a year earlier.
The employment rate for the population aged 15 and over rose to 58.5%, with an annual increase of 0.9 percentage points, while the unemployment rate fell to 8.3%, or 0.5 percentage points less than in the fourth quarter of 2024.
INSTAT reports that there are currently around 1,172,550 people in employment and 105,906 unemployed.
In parallel, the average gross monthly salary for an employee reached 86,984 lekë (about 870 euros), marking an increase of 4.3% compared to a year earlier and 4.4% compared to the third quarter of 2025.
The sectors with the highest salaries continue to be financial and insurance activities, with 173,283 lek (about 1,733 euros) per month, as well as information and communication, with 131,165 lek (about 1,312 euros).
The highest annual wage increase by economic activity was recorded in information and communication (7.9%), while by profession the highest was in the armed forces (10.6%).
The data also shows a shift of employees towards higher salaries: the share of those receiving over 120 thousand lekë (about 1,200 euros) increased from 14.1% to 16.2%, while the share of those paid up to the minimum wage level fell from 14.2% to 12.8%./Euronews Albania/
