Albania ranks low on EU drinking‑water safety and high on prison rates

Albania is placed among the poorest performers in Europe for drinking‑water safety, scoring just 54.1 out of 100 on the Environmental Performance Index. The country trails Moldova and Georgia and records high levels of nitrate contamination in groundwater, exceeding the EU limit in 14 % of monitoring points. Treating polluted water is costly, with potential EU expenses of up to €320 billion annually.

At the same time, Albania has one of the highest incarceration rates in Europe, with 182 prisoners per 100 000 inhabitants in 2023‑24, well above the EU average of 113. The share of women in prison is the lowest in the region at 1.4 %, compared with a European average of 5.5 %. These figures illustrate parallel challenges in public‑health infrastructure and criminal‑justice policy.

For context, the EU average prison rate is 113 per 100 000 and the best‑performing water‑safety scores (Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, UK) reach the maximum 100 points.