Eight percent of Albania’s population aged over 16 did not undergo a necessary medical examination during 2024 due to the high cost.
The latest Eurostat data on healthcare, based on citizens’ self-reported information, ranks Albania second after Greece among countries where costs prevent the largest share of people from receiving the healthcare they need. Meanwhile, the European Union average for 2025 was only 1%.
After Greece and Albania, the gap is significant. In 2025, the inability to afford a medical examination affected 2.5% of the population in Latvia, 2% in Romania, 1.9% in France and 1.6% in Italy.
In addition to cost, Albanian patients listed several other reasons that prevented them from undergoing the medical examinations they needed.
Some 1.5% said they had not undergone an examination because of waiting lists, while 0.2% cited the distance to healthcare services. Together, these three factors affected 9.8% of the population.
Two percent of the population aged over 16 said they had not undergone an examination because they preferred to wait and see whether the problem would improve on its own. Lack of time was also a significant obstacle, with around 1.8% of the population saying they had not had enough time to undergo an examination.
Although such cases are rare, fear of the results also leaves some patients without medical examinations.
Some 0.2% of citizens cited fear of the doctor, hospital, examination or treatment as the reason, while 0.1% reported that they did not know a good doctor or specialist.
All these factors have resulted in many citizens not receiving the healthcare services they need in a timely manner.
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