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OECD: Albania ranks last in the region for digital skills and internet use by citizens

Politiko 2026-10-26 12:02:57

OECD: Albania ranks last in the region for digital skills and internet use by

Albania has made great strides in digitalizing its administration and its businesses lead the region in the use of artificial intelligence, but citizens remain at the bottom of the Western Balkans on two basic indicators: digital skills and internet usage.

 Only 23.3% of the Albanian population has at least basic digital skills, the lowest level in the region, while 84.7% of individuals use the internet, again the lowest percentage among the six Western Balkan economies.

The digital skills gap is particularly large. The Western Balkans average is 35.8%, about 12.5 percentage points above Albania, while in the European Union 57.6% of the population has at least basic or above-basic skills. This means that the percentage in Albania is less than half the EU level.

The comparison within the region is equally stark. Montenegro leads with 52% of the population with basic digital skills, more than double Albania’s and even above the average of 46.7% of the neighboring EU countries that the OECD uses as a comparison group. Albania, at 23.3%, lags behind all other Western Balkan economies.

Even more worrying is that the gap is not closing quickly. Across the region, the share of the population with basic digital skills has increased by only 0.9 percentage points compared to the period 2020-2022. In Albania, the score relative to the EU has even gone from 42.3% to 40.5% of the European level, indicating that the improvement has not been sufficient to keep pace with the EU.

The OECD also highlights a strong age gap across the Western Balkans. In 2023, 61% of young people aged 16-24 had at least basic digital skills, but this percentage dropped to just 17% among those aged 55-64.

 In the EU, the figures were 74% and 44% respectively. The report attributes the gap to insufficient access to digital education and training, especially for adults who need to retrain or update their skills.

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