Source: Albanian Ministry of Finance (2017). Notes: includes central and subnational spending.

Some of the key spending elements of social spending include the following: _Economic Assistance (Ndihma Ekonomike): Ndihma Ekonomike_ is an economic family allowance, cash and in-kind, to families in need and individuals with special status. Eligible families are families living in extreme poverty or with insufficient income, unemployed orphans over 25 years who are not living in institutions or under foster care, orphans between 18 and 25 years who are not settled to institutions of social services or under guardianship, parents of triplets (or more than triplets) with insufficient income, and victims of domestic violence. The benefit amount depends on the area these families live in, family structure characteristics, etc.<sup>8</sup> The average monthly benefit in 2015 was ALL 4,525 (per family) (approximately 1.9 US$/day in 2005 PPP) distributed to 79,530 families (State Social Service, 2016), whereas the maximum did not exceed ALL 8,000, irrespective of the family structure or other conditions. Despite the increasing number of families receiving this benefit, _Ndihma Ekonomike_ represents only 0.31 percent of GDP.

- _Unemployment benefit:_ The unemployment benefit is a contributory benefit paid to workers who were previously employed and contributed for at least 12 months, but now are unemployed by no fault of their own. This benefit is funded by the tax on employers. Despite an increase in 2016, this benefits remains still very low (only 50 percent of the minimum wage). In 2015, the unemployment benefit was ALL 6,850 per month (approximately US$ 88 per month in 2005 PPP), which represents approximately 1.7 percent of GDP.

- _Old-age Pension:_ Contributors, men age 65 and women age 60, with at least 35 years of contributions are entitled to an old-age pension. Gradual increases (two months per year) of the retirement age are foreseen by the law until the retirement age for both sexes reaches 67 years old.  However, if elderly people age 70 do not receive any pension under the compulsory scheme and have no or insufficient income, they become eligible to a social pension of ALL 6,750 per month (approximately US$ 87 per month in 2005 PPP), which started implementation recently in 2015. In total, there are 474,475 beneficiaries in 2015, while the spending accounts only for 5 percent of GDP.

- _Energy Subsidies:_ The beneficiaries entitled to the energy compensation are families that receive social assistance ( _Ndihma Ekonomike_ ), disability pension, old-age pensioners, paraplegics and tetraplegics, and low-income families with a monthly salary below 35,000 ALL/month. The compensation received by these families in 2015 is 1,288 ALL/month (approximately 0.1 percent of GDP), from which 648 ALL/month is benefited as compensation for the removal of the protective threshold category of the energy consumption of 300kW/month and 640 ALL/month is received as compensation for the increase in the electricity price (up to 200 kWh per month).

- _<mark>Education (in-kind transfer):</mark>_ <mark>The majority of pupils and students attending school are enrolled in the public system. In the academic year 2014-2015, the public education system accounted for: 90 percent of enrollment in primary schools, 89 percent of enrollment in secondary education, and 85 percent of enrollment in post-secondary education (Ministry of Education and Sports of Albania, 2016). The first two levels of education are compulsory and free. Both central and local governments are responsible</mark>

> 8 Tirana, Durrës and Elbasan are considered as pilot area and the benefit amount changes when compared to the other areas.

8