RCC: Western Balkans could face a shortage of over 190,000 workers in the next five years

(Patria) - The Western Balkans needs a new growth model based on productivity, trust, and stronger regional economic integration, said the Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), Amer Kapetanović, in his address at the KFF2026 business forum in Pristina today.

- The Western Balkans faces a strategic choice - either to turn to a model based on productivity or risk becoming an expensive economy with a labor shortage, fiscal pressures, and a permanent state of partial alignment - said Kapetanović.

He noted that the working-age population in the region is projected to decline by nearly one-fifth by 2050, with the Western Balkans potentially facing a shortage of over 190,000 workers in the next five years.

At the same time, labor productivity remains at only about 40% of the European Union average.

- Growth alone will not bring alignment without transformation, and our region cannot rely indefinitely on cheap labor, remittances from abroad, public spending, or development based on building new infrastructure.

Without a major shift in productivity, we will continue to grow, but not transform - said the RCC Secretary General.

Emphasizing the common regional market as a practical tool for productivity and growth, Kapetanović said it can provide a larger market for small and medium-sized enterprises, but also enable the mobility of skilled labor.

It can also reduce the costs of regional fragmentation, simplify procedures, harmonize standards, and turn the Western Balkans into a credible regional value chain connected to the European single market.

Kapetanović also stressed the need to address the issue of lack of trust in institutions and pointed out that "productivity does not grow from uncertainty."

Concluding his introductory address for the panel "Demography, Productivity, and Growth in the Western Balkans," Kapetanović emphasized that with greater regional functionality, deeper integration into the European economic space, and a renewed focus on results, the Western Balkans can reverse the trend of skilled labor outflow and create new opportunities for skilled workers to return, invest, and take on leadership roles.

During his visit to Pristina, Kapetanović met with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Glauk Konjufca, and the Minister of Industry, Entrepreneurship, Trade, and Innovation, Mimoza Kusari-Lila.

With them, he discussed opportunities for achieving concrete results in regional cooperation, mobility of citizens and skilled labor, stronger entrepreneurship and innovation, as well as improving the common regional market as a practical tool for growth, competitiveness, stronger value chains, and greater integration into the EU single market.