Albania's economy will face a serious challenge in the future, considering that the working age population will shrink by more than 15 percent by 2040, Albanian economy expert Ardian Civici was quoted by local media as saying on Thursday.

According to Civici, the decline of fertility and mass emigration puts the Albanian economy to face a new risk.

"The first negative scenario that the decline in the workforce will bring is the economic downturn, "stated Civici, while commenting on the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) report which said that by 2040 Albania's working age population will shrink by more than 15 percent.

"The amount of goods that an economy produces is the result of three factors; labor, capital and productivity. When the labor force shrinks, the only way to avoid the economic downturn is to increase investment or create a more skilled workforce," underlined Civici.

According to him if the technology in Albania is not going to change and the economy will remain oriented to low-productivity sectors like nowadays, then the decline in labor will lead to poverty.

Civici commented that to prevent this negative scenario, the government should implement policies that discourage emigration.

"But on the other hand, we need to increase our human resources by investing in advanced education and technology," added the economic expert.