Albania

EuropeCapital city: TiraneCapital metro: TiranaPrime Minister: Edi RamaPresident: Bajram Begaj
2026 population
2.3M
Rank #149 globally
Area
29k km² (11k sq mi)
Metros tracked
19
78% of population in metros
Composite score
5.4
Rank #126 globally

population: Official estimate (1 Jan 2026) · indicators as of 5 Sep 2026 · 19 metros tracked

🗺️ Geography19 metros

Albania metro footprint, shaded by composite tier.

Loading map…
19 polygons

Select a metro for its rank and a link to its page. Boundaries derived from Overture Maps administrative divisions; metros without source coverage are omitted.

🏙️ 19 tracked metros
19 metros
#662Tirana★ Capital▲ Largest
Tirana · 759K · Emerging Metro
3.3
#2286Durrës
Durrës · 176K · Local Metro
0.3
#2461Elbasan
Elbasan · 115K · Local Metro
0.3
#2512Shkoder
Shkodër · 102K · Local Metro
0.3
#2578Vlore
Vlorë · 84K · Local Metro
0.3
#2658Korce
Korçë · 61K · Local Metro
0.3
#2761Kukës
Kukës · 36K · Local Metro
0.3
#2771Laç
Lezhë · 34K · Local Metro
0.3
#3600Fier
Fier · 102K · Local Metro
0.0
Fier · 63K · Local Metro
0.0
#3850Berat
Berat · 62K · Local Metro
0.0
#3953Lezhë
Lezhë · 51K · Local Metro
0.0
🗂️ Counties

12 entries listed under Albania. Select any to see its metros and footprint.

12 total
📋 At a glance
Official language
Albanian
Government
Parliamentary system
Legislature
Parliament of Albania
Demonym
Albanian
Time zone
UTC+01:00
Driving side
Right
Calling code
+355
Internet TLD
.al
ISO 3166
AL
Established
1912
Highest point
Korab (2,764 m (9,068 ft))
National anthem
Himni i Flamurit

Facts via Wikidata.

🗣️ Languages of Albania

Albanian first; one language carries the country; 1 official.

LanguageShareStatus
Albanian100%Official
Modern Greek1.9%None
Macedonian0.5%None

Shares count first and second language, so they overlap and can add past 100%.

Effective languages
1.0
Official-language gap
0%
Albanian is spoken by 100%

Albania on the languages board · Language power

💹 Economy and developmentUpper middle income
Human Dev. Index
#70 / 191
0.810
UNDP · 2023
GDP
#111 / 193
$30.5B
World Bank · 2025
GDP per capita
#74 / 193
$13.0k
World Bank · 2025
GDP/capita (PPP)
#73 / 190
$28.2k
World Bank · 2025
GNI/capita (Atlas)
#74 / 192
$12.1k
World Bank · 2025
Life expectancy
#42 / 194
79.8 yrs
World Bank · 2024
Median age
36.3 yrs
UN WPP · 2023
Urban population
#114 / 194
59%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. growth
-1.2%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. density
#96 / 193
88/km² (228/mi²)
World Bank · 2023
Foreign-born
#138 / 193
1.7%
World Bank · 2024
Rule of law
#83 / 175
0.59
V-Dem · 2025
Gini index
#28 / 166
29.4
World Bank · 2020
Internet users
#77 / 193
86%
World Bank · 2024
Inflation
#62 / 185
2.1%
World Bank · 2025
CO₂ per capita
#72 / 192
1.6 t
Global Carbon Budget · 2024
Renewable electricity
★ #7 / 186
100%
Ember · 2024

Ranks are among sovereign countries with data; ★ marks a top-5% finish. Sources: World Bank Open Data and Our World in Data (UNDP, UN WPP, V-Dem, Global Carbon Budget, Ember, Energy Institute; CC BY 4.0). Each card credits its originating body. Renewable share is of electricity generation, not of primary energy. Each figure is the most recent year available.

Alliances & Organisations2 full memberships

Security

Political & Economic

Full memberDashed border = Candidate / ApplicantItalic = Dialogue / Observer

🏛️ Leadership History20 leaders · click to expand

is an editorial flag: associated with atrocities against civilians, systemic subversion of the constitutional order, or a criminal conviction (political persecutions and annulled convictions excluded). It is a curated list, not a measurement, so a name without one has not been cleared of anything. Hover a badge for the reason on file. marks a monarch.

Other

Bajram Begaj✦ Current
President · 3y 11m 9d
2022–Present
Ilir Meta
President · 5y 0d
2017–2022

Republic of Albania

Edi Rama✦ Current
Prime Minister · 12y 9m 18d
2013–Present
Bujar Nishani
President · 5y 0d
2012–2017
Bamir Topi
President · 5y 0d
2007–2012
Sali Berisha
Prime Minister · 8y 4d
2005–2013
Fatos Nano
Prime Minister · 3y 1m 11d
2002–2005
Alfred Moisiu
President · 5y 0d
2002–2007
Ilir Meta
Prime Minister · 2y 3m 0d
1999–2002
Fatos Nano
Prime Minister · 1y 2m 8d
1997–1998
Rexhep Meidani
President · 5y 0d
1997–2002
Aleksandër Meksi
Prime Minister · 5y 2m 28d
1992–1997
Sali Berisha
President · 5y 3m 15d
1992–1997
Ramiz Alia
President · 11m 10d
1991–1992

People’s Socialist Republic of Albania

Ramiz Alia
First Secretary · 6y 17d
1985–1991
Enver Hoxha
First Secretary · 40y 4m 13d
1944–1985

Kingdom of Albania

Zog I
Monarch · 10y 7m 6d
1928–1939

Albanian Republic

Ahmet Zogu
President · 3y 7m 1d
1925–1928

Principality of Albania

Wilhelm of Wied
Prince · 5m 27d
1914–1914

Provisional Government

Ismail Qemali
Chairman · 1y 1m 18d
1912–1914
📈 Power over timeThe Power Atlas →
Today
Minor#120 · 0.0%
3%5%8%10%19502000
Power (headline share)Latent (material mass)Recognised (standing)

The power line is the headline share of world power, running from the state’s first ranked year (benchmark estimates with wide error bars before 1816). Latent power is material mass a state could mobilise (population, manpower, heavy industry). Recognised power is what the system actually treats it as (military spending, productive economy, reach, and status such as a Security Council seat or nuclear arsenal). When latent runs above recognised, a power is rising or under-rated; when recognised runs higher, it is punching above its weight or coasting on prestige. Material sub-indices run 1816 through 2016.

⚔️ Wars and conflicts2 interstate wars · click to expand

Bold = principal belligerent. Source: Wikipedia, “List of interstate wars since 1945.”

👥 Population over time
Population 2023
2.8m
#143 in the world
Since 1800
7.03×
from 400k
Past its peak
−14.3%
peaked at 3.3m in 1991
Share of world
0.04%
0.04% in 1800
821k1.6m2.5m3.3m18001850190019502000

Our World in Data population (CC BY): UN WPP 2024 from 1950, Gapminder v7 1800-1949, HYDE 3.3 earlier; today's borders. Figures above are as of 2023, the last year that is estimated rather than forecast. The dashed tail to 2026 is a UN WPP medium-variant projection. It is drawn because the line should reach the present, and drawn differently because it has not happened yet: no rank, peak or share on this page uses it. Before 1950 the series is reconstruction rather than contemporaneous statistics, which is worth knowing when a country’s peak sits back there. The current population shown elsewhere on this page comes from the workbook and is unchanged by this. Albania is past its peak, which is less unusual than it sounds: the two lines here can point in opposite directions, and for most of Europe and East Asia they now both point down.

👥 To 2100

The UN’s probabilistic projection for Albania: the median with its 80% and 95% bands, the UN’s own high, low and zero-migration scenarios beside it. Not this site’s model; the site reads it and says what it implies.

Peak
1991
3.3m; already passed
2050
2.2m
95% band 1.4m to 3.3m
2100
1.2m
95% band 286k to 5.7m
2100 against 2025
0.43×
median falling from 2024
Deaths outnumber births
from 2029
on the UN medium path; migration decides the rest
1.5m3.0m4.5m6.0m1950197520002025205020752100
estimateUN median80% and 95% bandshigh and low fertilityzero migration

What drives it

Births, deaths and net migration on the UN medium path, with fertility, life expectancy and median age, every decade from 1950.

1950
49k born · 29k died · +7k net migration
TFR 6.17 · life expectancy 44.5 · median age 19.6
1960
68k born · 26k died · +14k net migration
TFR 6.38 · life expectancy 56.4 · median age 18.8
1970
73k born · 19k died · +92 net migration
TFR 5.16 · life expectancy 65.2 · median age 18.0
1980
73k born · 18k died · -601 net migration
TFR 3.59 · life expectancy 69.9 · median age 20.1
1990
85k born · 18k died · -60k net migration
TFR 3.01 · life expectancy 72.7 · median age 22.9
2000
55k born · 18k died · -61k net migration
TFR 2.22 · life expectancy 74.8 · median age 26.2
2010
36k born · 18k died · -52k net migration
TFR 1.65 · life expectancy 78.4 · median age 31.6
2020
30k born · 26k died · -17k net migration
TFR 1.37 · life expectancy 77.8 · median age 35.1

Every country to 2100 →

Source: United Nations, DESA, Population Division. World Population Prospects 2024. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 IGO. Estimates to 2023; projections 2024 to 2100, medium variant and probabilistic intervals. The UN revises every two years; this is the WPP 2024 revision.

💰 Billionaires1 · $1.9B combined · click to expand
Diversified · Diversified
$1.9B

Source: Forbes real-time billionaires (via the rtb-api project). Net worth as of the latest monthly snapshot.

🏆 National Teams

Albania on the international stage. Select a card for the full record.