The National Institute of Statistics, INSTAT, will formally launch a population and housing census for 2023 in Albania, a totally technical process designed to produce a panorama and detailed statistics about Albania’s current population, collect data on social and economic aspects, demographic movements and a lot more information through a traditional census that in principle entails canvassing the entire country, reaching every single household and collecting information on all individuals to have a clear picture on how and where Albanian citizens live in 2023.

The total population and housing census is the most important statistical operation in the country and institutions would be able to plan accurate projects and better deliver public services to inhabitants based on the collected data and information.

This will be the 12th national census in the history of Albania, 100 years after the first ever census conducted in 1923 and, thanks to the technological advancement it promises to fully implement the EU standards on housing and population censuses.

Prime Minister Edi Rama attended and delivered remarks at the opening conference “2023 Population and Housing Census.”

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Before I start this speech, I can’t help but express special pleasure that as we launch yet another crucially important initiative – which we wouldn’t have been able to conduct without our partners’ assistance and support – I am joined by Ambassador Luigi Soreca, who by coming back to Albania even just for a few months due to the procedures in Brussels, deserves the title “legendary”, because only legends have it that although gone they come back again.

I think time is ripe for us to launch such an important process and conduct it in line with the European standards. It is a difficult exercise as it is a door-to-door census to collect in six weeks time, as planned by the National Institute of Statistics, full and complete information and data, which are an absolute must for many reasons. The census will primarily be conducted to really and concretely identify how many Albanians, how many citizens live in this country today. Likewise, the census will identify the number of immovable properties. I am saying that the conditions are ripe, because, like never before, there are two factors representing an important guarantee. Our international partners are the first factor, namely the French, Swiss and German partners, all of them standing out for their exactitude, their experience in being accurate in counting, and, of course, the support from the European Union itself through a considerable funding, 55% of which has been made available by the Albanian government and the rest having been allocated by these partners.  And I would like to underline that the German Development Cooperation Agency, GIZ, is our German partner, an institution that has continuously demonstrated seriousness and its values in Albania. The second factor is the cutting-edge technology, which would help us significantly by using what is used in much more developed realities as a means that guarantees real-time integrity of figures.

INSTAT has an undisputable experience and professional cohesion and progression, which is a guarantee to this process. It is one of the country’s few institutions that when you claim that it is completely depoliticized and totally independent from the realm of politics, no one would raise their hands and shout: “No, it is not true.” INSTAT’s experience in cooperation with European experts is a consolidated experience. In this aspect too, we don’t just have a team of Albanian professionals, namely the INSTAT professionals, but also a very precious international expertise in tackling such a complicated and challenging process.

I am very proud that INSTAT is totally freed from politics, it does no longer do politics a favor and prepare fake stories about Albania’s two-digit growth, suggesting that the country is experiencing fastest economic growth in the world, just a few steps behind China, and INSTAT no longer becomes a reason for Albania to be lashed out by every EU report about credible statistics as it was the case in the past.

The preparations for this process go on for four years now, if I am not mistaken, and the teams on the ground have already created the geo-referencing areas and, with the tools available to them, they will be able to conduct real-time registration and send real-time information based on all geo-referencing areas thanks to the use of technology.

All the citizens should understand that the census also has a patriotic side to it, in the sense that establishing a real number of the Albanian citizens living in the country is something extremely important.

Welcoming the INSTAT teams and dedicating 10 minutes to responding to the entire questionnaire, which has been compiled in collaboration with the international experts and in line with the best international standards, is a patriotic obligation.

The INSTAT information is definitely confidential.

It is very important for us the policymakers to correct and alter the trajectory of the current policies according to concrete demographic realities, so that we can act according to the demographic reality and not according to the voters list and this way we will be able to devise correct policies vis-à-vis the demographic needs, starting with the starting from the distribution of the population on the basis of the voters list, but we must do it on the basis of the population census, namely on the basis of the this census findings. This is extremely important for all the reasons. Concluding, I would like to briefly focus on Albania’s ethnic minorities. I am very proud about many things in Albania, but one of the things I am most proud of is the fact that Albania has the most advanced European legislation on minority rights and, as such, Albania ranks in the first category, as there are several categories ranking even among the EU member states.

We rank in the first category. We have drafted and adopted the new national legislation on minority rights without having been asked by anyone. The previous law was correct, but we sought to draft optimal and distinguished legislation and I am very proud of it.

Second, I am very proud of the way Albania has integrated and has treated all the ethnic minorities, without distinguishing and discriminating among them, and if someone or an ethnic community faces problems, I would say these are problems encountering communities of Albanian ethnicity too.  There is nothing different. There is not a single minority that would stand up and claim that they encounter a problem because of the fact that they belong to another ethnicity and you cannot find this problem in anyone of Albanian nationality. It does not exist. Therefore, we know very well that there are things to improve in every aspect for the minorities, for their lives, for their well-being, as there are for all communities with Albanian nationality, but we are in a position where we can say No one can give Albania full of lectures for minorities.

Thank you!