Muhaxhiri: Migration and government neglect main culprits for population decline in Kosovo

The birth rate in Kosovo has sharply declined in recent years, and sociologist and political analyst from Pristina, Artan Muhaxhiri, identifies changes in lifestyle, migration, and the government's poor population policy as the main causes.

Muhaxhiri tells Kosovo Online that the fertility rate was once around 3.5, decreased to about 2.1 in the 2000s, and today women, on average, give birth to 1.7 children, leading to a decline in the population. There are many reasons for this, with one of the main factors being awareness of family planning.

"In the past, there were different criteria compared to today. The quality of life has changed, the level of education has changed, the way people plan families..., so it is impossible today, for example, to have ten children, as was the case in the past. This is because there is increasing pressure on people for their children to have a quality life, which is not feasible with the current level of wages and expenses, so people choose to have fewer children to provide them with better conditions," Muhaxhiri says.

As our interlocutor explains, the decline in population has numerous social, economic, and cultural consequences. This primarily affects the lack of a workforce, which also raises security concerns.

"A smaller population requires immigration to fill the empty space in the labor market. This is a big problem because Kosovo does not have good enough security measures to filter foreign labor, i.e., migrants who would replace domestic workers. Also, we should not forget that migrations are a big problem for Kosovo, and they are the number one cause for the population decline in recent years," the sociologist from Pristina explains.

Muhaxhiri explains that there is a significant difference between whether the number of children a family plans to have is a personal choice or imposed due to poor population policies.

"If it is a choice, as it is in the West, states have good programs to counter these changes, but here, I don't believe the government has the capacity when it comes to family planning, improving education, and the healthcare system. There are many reports about the closing of schools in small villages in Kosovo because there are not enough students, and unfortunately, I don't see anything meaningful and good in the government's plans, so I think it is not a priority for our government," Muhaxhiri says.