Demographic Dynamics and Characteristics of Urbanization in Albania During the Second Decade of Transition

By, Dr. Gentian KAPRATA

Abstract
During the second phase of urbanization, 2001-2011, the strong dynamics of the demographic movements that started in the first phase (1990-2001) continued. They include: (i) external migration and (ii) internal migration. The population of Albania decreased by 237,534 inhabitants. There were two reasons for this decline: (i) external migration; and, (ii) the reduction of the natural addition of the population, as a result of the fall of the Synthetic Fertilization Index (ISF). Another demographic phenomenon, very negative, was the aging of the population. During this period, a contradiction appears between: (i) the continuous increase in the number of buildings; and (ii) rapid population decline. Migration from one district of the northern and southern region to another district in the central and western area of the country included 228,952 individuals, while movements within the same district (at the city and village level) mark a figure of 280,863 individuals. They brought that, for the first time in the history of Albania, the population living in urban areas was higher than the rural one. The Greater Tirana-Durrës Region and the Fier-Vlora Medium Region would follow the division of the general national population, deepening the concentration-dispersion characteristics of the demographic-territorial model in the regional approach. This was also reinforced by the disproportional demographic relationship between the counties of the same region, but specifically in the demographic density between each of the residential centers (municipalities and municipalities) with the national average.

Keywords: demography, external migration, internal migration, fertility rate, population aging, level of urbanization, demographic-territorial model, population concentration, population abandonment.

How to cite: Kaprata, G. (2022). Demographic dynamics and characteristics of urbanization in Albania during the second decade of transition. Ingenious, 2(2), 74–90.

https://doi.org/10.58944/xsjg3614