Agricultural Land Change and Rural Restructuring in Albania, 2000–2020: Patterns and Drivers

This paper analyses agricultural land-use change in Albania as a long-term outcome of post-socialist decollectivisation and rural demographic transition. Following radical and egalitarian land redistribution in the early 1990s, Albania developed a highly fragmented farm structure that continues to shape land-use decisions. Using CORINE Land Cover status layers for 2000, 2012 and 2020 (released in 2020, based on 2018 data), the study examines both total agricultural area and its internal composition. While the agricultural envelope remained broadly stable (-1.3%), its structure changed markedly: arable land expanded, pastures increased, permanent crops remained stable, and heterogeneous agricultural areas declined by about 26%. These changes reflect the interaction of institutional legacies, labour scarcity driven by migration and ageing, and spatial variation in irrigation and market access. The findings identify a phase of recomposition (2000–2012), followed by stabilisation (2012–2020), with post-2020 adjustment increasingly driven by intensification and value-chain upgrading rather than land reallocation.