Muslims now in minority in Albania

Published 3 July 2024 at 16.55

Foreign. For the first time in more than 200 years, Muslims do not constitute a majority of the population in Albania, reports Turkiye Today. In Albania, Muslims are emigrating instead of immigrating.

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The number of Muslims in Albania is 45.7 percent, according to the latest census. This in a country that had a Muslim majority for centuries.

Unlike the Islamization in Western Europe, this opposite change is not driven by immigration – quite the opposite. The non-religious population grew somewhat steadily and reached 23.4 percent. In addition, the Orthodox Christians have expanded and now account for twenty percent of the population.

The census reveals a remarkable population decline of as much as 15 percent in Albania over the past ten years. From 2.8 million in 2011, the current total population has dropped to 2.4 million – a decline experts attribute to emigration, declining birth rates and changes in religious and ethnic demographics.

Emigration from Albania has been extensive after the end of the Cold War. In the early 90s, the population was 3.3 million.