6. Cultural participation and consumption
Albania
Last update: January, 2022
Policies and programmes
The National Plan for European Integration 2015-2020177, Chapter 26 on Culture and Education, is relevant to this chapter.
Since 2018, the Ministry of Culture is the National Coordinator of the Europe for Citizens Programme, starting with the training of independent operators to apply for the components: Civil Society Projects, Urban Twinning and Networking of Cities. The Ministry, through the EU IPA programme, has become part of several projects, which are implemented by the Ministry departments, as well as by subordinate institutions in partnership with regional and international organizations.
Last update: January, 2022
Trends and figures in cultural participation
Table 3: People who participated in or attended a certain cultural activity during the last 12 months in Albania (in % of the population, over 3 available years)
| Year 1 2018 | Year 2 2019 | Year 3 2020 | |
| Activities heavily subsidised by the state total / (%) | |||
| Theatre National Theatre National Experimental Theatre National Theatre of Opera, Ballet and Ensemble National Centre for Children’s Culture National Circus | 39503 (1.38%) 65989 (2.3%) 54438(1.9%) 34968 (1.2%) 22051 (0.77%) | 34790 (1.2%) 64684 (2.25%) 70674 (2.46%) 31795 (1.1%) 21698 (0.75%) | 5252 (0.18%) 16044 (0.56%) 7476 (0.26%) 6274 (0.22%) 3286 (0.11% |
| Open Performances | |||
| Zarzuela | |||
| Archaeology Parks (9 state) | 424,860 (14.8%) | 78,552 (2.7%) | |
| Dance | |||
| Concerts of classic music | |||
| Libraries (1) | 82,414 | 132,462 | 30,002 |
| Museums (2) | 317,826 (11.1%) | 49,288 (1.7%) | |
| Monuments and Castles (7) | 322,395 (11.2%) | 62,627 (2.2%) | |
| Monuments and Castles (7) Cultural centres National Art Gallery | 19,776 | 16,473 | 2,645 |
Last update: January, 2022
Trends and figures in household expenditure
According to the Family Budget Survey in 2019 by INSTAT, The National Institute of Statistics, the 2018 monthly expenditure per family for Entertainment and Culture was 2,038 leke (17 euro) or 2.6% of total monthly expenses179. In 2019, monthly spending was 3143 leke (26 euro) or 3.8% of total expenses, representing a 54.3% increase.
Last update: January, 2022
Culture and civil society
While just eight cultural organizations were recorded in the 1998 catalogue of the Albanian Foundation of Civil Society, things have vastly grown and cultural organizations today range from performance, education, advocacy, activism, conservation, policy development and more. Funding has always been a concern and while grants and other financing are available, the most successful organizations often have a business element like a bar/cafe to support activities. Other organizations are known to be politically affiliated but, nonetheless, continue to provide cultural opportunities to audiences. Civil Society has benefited from numerous European grants to qualified organizations.
National Conference of Civil Society in Albania 2020-Summary Document180