Walking and seeing, the most frequent difficulties for Albanians, 28% report limitations, Eurostat: poverty the cause

Over one in four Albanians aged 16 and over say they experience moderate or severe difficulty in at least one basic activity of daily living.

Walking and seeing are the most frequently mentioned difficulties. Although Albania’s overall indicator is lower than the European average, in several areas—walking, hearing, communication, and self-care—the country records percentages above the EU level.

Eurostat data show that in 2022, 28.4% of Albanians aged 16 and over reported moderate or severe difficulties in at least one of six assessed activities: seeing, hearing, walking, memory or concentration, communication, and self-care.

For the European Union, the average in the same year was 37.4%. According to Eurostat, at least one such difficulty was reported by more than a third of Europeans in this age group.

In the European ranking, Albania is eighth from the bottom for the level of difficulties. The lowest percentages are reported in Serbia (19.2%), Montenegro (20%), and Italy (23%).

On the other hand, the highest indicators are recorded in the Nordic countries: Norway (62.4%), Denmark (60.1%), and Finland (54%). In these countries, problems with memory and concentration are reported particularly often.

The most reported difficulties among Albanians

Walking ranks first in Albania, with 19.4% of people reporting difficulties in this activity. Seeing follows immediately after, with 19.3%.

Difficulties in hearing are reported by 13.2% of people, while 11.1% mention memory or concentration. For self-care, the figure is 8.5%, and for communication, 7.3%.

The ranking is largely similar in the EU, but seeing takes first place there: in 2022, 20.3% of residents reported this problem, while walking difficulties affected about 18%.

Eurostat notes that seeing and walking are generally the most widespread difficulties in Europe. Meanwhile, problems with communication and self-care are reported less frequently.

However, in four out of six categories, the percentages in Albania are higher than the EU average.

Walking difficulties are reported by 19.4% of Albanians, compared to 18.3% in the EU; in hearing, 13.2% and 11.9% respectively; and for self-care, 8.5% and 6.6%. The largest gap is in communication: 7.3% in Albania versus 4.7% in the EU.

For seeing, Albania is slightly below the European average, with 19.3% versus 20.3%. The difference is even more noticeable for memory and concentration: 11.1% in Albania, compared to 15.2% in the EU.

Behind North Macedonia in the Western Balkans

In the 2022 comparison among Western Balkan countries, North Macedonia led with 34.8% of the population aged 16 and over reporting at least one moderate or severe difficulty.

Albania ranked second, with 28.4%. It was followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina with 24%, Serbia with 21.9%, and Montenegro with 20%.

North Macedonia had the highest regional figures in almost all categories: 26.6% for seeing, 22.1% for walking, and 14% for hearing. In these areas, Albania held second place.

Communication is the exception. Moderate or severe difficulties in this aspect were reported by 7.3% of Albanians, the highest percentage in the region. North Macedonia recorded 6.2%, Serbia 3.6%, Bosnia and Herzegovina 3.4%, and Montenegro 2.1%.

For self-care, Albania also recorded a relatively high level, 8.5%, ranking behind North Macedonia, with 9.2%.

Several difficulties are often reported at once

A person may have difficulties in more than one activity. In Albania, the percentages of the six categories, added together, reach about 79%, while 28.4% of people report at least one difficulty.

A simple calculation of these indicators suggests that Albanians reporting at least one limitation face on average about 2.8 types of difficulties. In the EU, for people with at least one limitation, the average calculated by Eurostat was about 2.1 in 2022.

Income and poverty risk in Europe

Eurostat’s latest report on living conditions in Europe notes a strong link between economic status and the reporting of these difficulties.

In 2025, people at risk of poverty reported difficulties more often in each of the six activities, compared to the rest of the population. The largest gap was for walking: moderate or severe problems were mentioned by 24.9% of people at risk of poverty, versus 16.9% of those not at this risk—a difference of 8 percentage points.

The difference between the two groups reached 6 percentage points for memory and concentration, 4.9 points for seeing, 4.3 points for self-care, 3.5 points for communication, and 1.8 points for hearing.

Age also influences the reported results. In the EU, in 2022, severe difficulties in basic activities were recorded by 3.4% of people aged 16-44. For the age group 65 and over, this percentage was 22.7%.

The data were collected through the EU-SILC survey and are based on the methodology of the Washington Group on Disability Statistics. They reflect difficulties reported by the individuals themselves, not medical diagnoses. The analysis includes residents aged 16 and over living in private households; persons in institutions are not part of the reference population.