Albania among European countries with fewest hospital beds despite population decline

In Albania, in 2024, public hospital facilities had 8,911 beds available, according to data published by INSTAT.

Compared to the population that year of 2.39 million inhabitants, the country has 372 beds per 100,000 inhabitants.

When comparing these data with the latest figures published by Eurostat (which does not include Albania), it emerges that relative to other European or regional countries, Albania has fewer beds per capita than the European Union average of 507 beds per 100,000 inhabitants and lags behind many countries, including those in the region for which data are available.

The regional record is held by Serbia (606 beds), followed by North Macedonia, with 452 (2021 data) and Montenegro (387).

Despite the fact that Albania’s population has shrunk over recent decades, “easing” the burden on hospitals, and the bed-to-population ratio has improved compared to 2014, when it was 296 beds per 100,000 inhabitants, the country continues to remain near the bottom of Europe.

In 2014, public institutions had 8,295 beds, according to INSTAT, and a decade later their number has increased slightly by 7.4%, but the improvement in the indicator has come more from the population decline of 400,000 inhabitants over the same period.

While the population numbers are declining, the burden of illness has in fact been increasing, as a result of the population, adding pressure on Albanian hospitals. Apart from having fewer beds than many European countries, they are also suffering from the emigration of doctors.

Moreover, many regional hospitals have been turned into outpatient clinics and complex procedures are carried out in Tirana’s hospitals, overcrowding the latter.