European Training Foundation maps labour market (re-)integration and skills development for persons with disabilities in Albania; aligns with EU Disability Employment Package.

European Training Foundation maps labour market (re-)integration and skills development for persons with disabilities in Albania; aligns with EU Disability Employment Package.

LABOUR MARKET (RE-)INTEGRATION AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES – ALBANIA Country note

LABOUR MARKET (RE-)INTEGRATION AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES – ALBANIA | 02 This country note has been prepared for the European Training Foundation by Neshat Zeneli. ETF’s Piotr Stronkowski steered the elaboration process and reviewed the draft report. Author: Neshat Zeneli Peer reviewer: Piotr Stronkowski, ETF

Manuscript completed in February 2026.

The contents of the report are the sole responsibility of the ETF and do not necessarily reflect the views of the EU institutions. © European Training Foundation, 2026

Except otherwise noted, the reuse of this document is authorised under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 international (CC BY 4.0) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This means that reuse is allowed provided appropriate credit is given and any changes are indicated. For any use or reproduction of photos or other material that is not owned by the European Training Foundation, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holders. Deed - Attribution 4.0 International - Creative Commons When citing this report, please use the following wording: European Training Foundation (2026), Labour market (re)integration and skills development for persons with disabilities – Albania, Turin

LABOUR MARKET (RE-)INTEGRATION AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES – ALBANIA | 03 CONTENTS CONTENTS 3 PREFACE 4 1 CONTEXT AND OVERVIEW OF THE SITUATION OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES 5 1.1 Context 5 1.2 Situation of persons with disabilities 5 2 STRATEGIC AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK 7 2.1 Legislative framework 7 2.2 Strategic framework 8 2.3 Institutional framework 9 2.4 Coordination and cooperation mechanisms 11 2.5 Sources of financing 13 3 POLICIES SUPPORTING EMPLOYABILITY OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES 14 3.1 Services supporting employability of persons with disabilities 14 3.2 Measures supporting employability of persons with disabilities 17 3.3 Enhancing the capacity of main stakeholders 20 3.4 Policies supporting demand for the employment of persons with disabilities 20 4 LINKAGES BETWEEN EMPLOYMENT AND OTHER POLICY AREAS 22 4.1 From school to the labour market 22 4.2 Skills development opportunities 23 4.3 How social benefits support the employment of persons with disabilities 24 4.4 Access to social services 24 4.5 Accessibility 25 5 THE GENDER DIMENSION OF POLICIES SUPPORTING THE EMPLOYMENT OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES 26 6 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 27 6.1 Conclusions 27 6.2 Recommendations 28 6.3 Best practices 30 ANNEX 32 List of institutions and organisations 32 ACRONYMS 33 REFERENCES 35

LABOUR MARKET (RE-)INTEGRATION AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES – ALBANIA | 04 PREFACE The Country Note presents the situation in Albania related to labour market (re-)integration and skills development for persons with disabilities with specific reference to the role of active labour market policy and measures. The European Training Foundation (ETF) has initiated a mapping of policies and programmes for labour market (re-)integration and skills development for persons with disabilities in several Partner countries, in response to the European Union’s priority of fostering the social inclusion and economic autonomy of persons with disabilities through employment, as per the priorities set out in the EU Disability Employment Package. The main objectives were to conduct a systemic, comparative policy analysis of employment support for persons with disabilities and to identify needs for strengthening the capacity of actors in selected neighbouring EU countries. The analysis was conducted in accordance with the framework proposed by the EU Disability Employment Package, with a particular focus on active labour market policies and skills. In Albania, the methodology consisted in desk review and face-to-face and online interviews with the main stakeholders active in the area promotion of employment and inclusion of persons with disabilities. The list of interviewees appears in Annex 1.

LABOUR MARKET (RE-)INTEGRATION AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES – ALBANIA | 05 1 CONTEXT AND OVERVIEW OF THE SITUATION OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES 1.1 Context Albania has been an EU candidate country since June 2014. In March 2020, the European Union decided to open accession negotiations with Albania. Albania is an upper-middle income country with a population of 2.4 million inhabitants (1 January 2025), of which 33% are aged 0‒29; 46% are aged 30‒64 and 21% are over 651. The population decline is the result of two main demographic components: ▪ natural increase, which for 2024 was positive with +1 208 more births than deaths; ▪ net migration, which remained negative with -28 836 persons2. In 2024, its gross domestic product per capita at current market prices was EUR 6 500, compared to 7 980 for North Macedonia, 11 000 for Montenegro, 12 080 for Türkiye, 12 510 for Serbia and 39 680 for the EU3. In 2024, the employment rate for the population aged 15‒64 years was 68.6%. The employment rate was 62.4% for women and 74.9% for men, meaning a gender employment gap for this age group of 12.5 percentage points. Compared to the previous year, employment had increased by 1.9 percentage points. In 2024, the overall unemployment rate for people aged 15 years and over was 8.7% (7.6% for men and 9.8% for women). The unemployment rate had decreased by 1.0 percentage points compared to 2023. For the first quarter of 2025, 17.2% of inactive persons were fulfilling household duties, 12.3% were in retirement or early retirement, 15.2% had a permanent disability and 2.5% were discouraged workers. In 2024, 22.2% of all youth aged 15‒29 years old were neither in employment nor in education or training. Of this group, 44.9% were unemployed, 14.2% were fulfilling domestic and family responsibilities, 2% were discouraged workers and 38.2% cited other reasons4. The at-risk-of-poverty rate in Albania dropped to 19.7% in 2023, decreasing by 0.9 percentage points from the previous year. Between 2022 and 2023 the number of individuals living below the at-risk-of- poverty threshold decreased by 5.4%5. The most recent data from the enlargement countries on the proportion of the population at risk of poverty after social transfers ranged from 19.9% in Serbia in 2023 to 27.9% in Kosovo (2018 data); within this range, the figure was 20.3% for Montenegro (2022 data), 21.8% for North Macedonia (2020 data), 22.0% for Albania (2021 data) and 22.2% for Türkiye (2024 data). All of these were considerably higher than the EU average, which was 16.2% in 2024. 1.2 Situation of persons with disabilities Comprehensive data on the situation of persons with disabilities are available through various publications issued by INSTAT, including the Albania Population and Housing Census 2023 (Subchapter 2.1.7: Disability and Functional Limitations), the Regional Statistical Yearbook 2024, and Labour Market in Albania, 2023–2024. Additional data are published in annual reports, analytical studies, and statistical yearbooks prepared by the respective line ministries and implementing agencies, such as the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, and the

1 INSTAT, Population of Albania on 1 January 2025, [online]. Last accessed on 23 September 2025. 2 INSTAT, Population of Albania on 1 January 2025, [online]. Last accessed on 23 September 2025. 3 Eurostat, Key figures for enlargement countries, [online]. Last accessed on 23 September 2025. 4 INSTAT, Labour Market 2024, [online]. Last accessed on 23 September 2025. 5 INSTAT, Income and Living Conditions in Albania, 2023, [online]. Last accessed on 23 September 2025.

LABOUR MARKET (RE-)INTEGRATION AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES – ALBANIA | 06 National Agency for Employment and Skills. Relevant information is also included in strategic policy documents adopted by the Government of Albania, notably the National Action Plan for Persons with Disabilities 2021–2025. It is essential to strengthen the quality, availability and comparability of data on persons with disabilities in order to support evidence-based policymaking and enhance the design, implementation and coordination of related policies and programmes. Despite progress achieved in recent years, several key challenges remain, one of which is insufficient data on persons with disabilities: Albania currently lacks disaggregated statistics on labour force participation, employment and unemployment specifically for persons with disabilities. These data gaps will be addressed in future Labour Force Survey (LFS) rounds. INSTAT plans to adopt Eurostat’s revised LFS methodology, which includes specific indicators on the employment and unemployment status of persons with disabilities. According to the 2023 Census, 6.5% of Albanian residents, or 156 137 persons aged five and over, declared a form of disability (Census 2023)6. The prevalence was higher among the female population (7.2%) than the male population (5.9%). Among persons with disabilities aged 15 years and over, 85.8% were literate, while for persons without disabilities the literacy rate was 98.6%. This reveals an evident disparity between persons with and without disability. Only 31.9% of the persons with disabilities aged 15 and over had completed upper secondary or tertiary education, compared to 56.6% of the population without disabilities. This difference was more pronounced in tertiary education, at 6.1% and 21.2% respectively. There is no available data on the labour force participation rate, employment rate and unemployment rate for persons with disabilities in Albania. According to INSTAT, the issue will be addressed soon. Administrative data on the inclusion of persons with disabilities in active labour market programmes (services and measures) is available from the National Agency for Employment and Skills database. At the end of the first quarter of 2025, the number of persons with disabilities registered at the National Agency for Employment and Skills (NAES), the Public Employment Service of Albania, was 3 501 or 5% of the total number of registered jobseekers7. This represents a clear increase in the registration of persons with disabilities as jobseekers compared to the fourth quarter of 2023 (2 656) and the fourth quarter of 2022 (437). The increase in the number of registered persons with disabilities reflects the implementation of more targeted and coordinated policy measures aimed at promoting their inclusion in the labour market. This progress can be attributed to the enhanced collaboration between key institutions, particularly the State Social Service and the National Agency for Employment and Skills, which has resulted in a more effective referral and registration system. Improved data exchange and institutional coordination have contributed to identifying a higher number of persons with disabilities who are of working age and eligible for employment support. In 2023, in Albania the average number of disability benefit recipients by type of disability was 72 474 persons, of whom 18% were blind, 8% were paraplegic and tetraplegic and 74% had mental health problems and physical disabilities. In 2023, Elbasan County recorded the highest rate of disability benefit recipients, with 17.42% of the total, i.e. 56 persons per 1 000 inhabitants, followed by Tirana with 17.41% of the total and Fier with 11.9%.

6 In the Census disability is measu