Economy of Albania

Economy of Albania
	Tirana, the economic hub of Albania
Currency	Lek (ALL, L)
Fiscal year	Calendar year
Trade organisations	WTO, BSEC, CEFTA, Open Balkan
Country group	Developing/Emerging; Upper-middle income economy; EU candidate;
Statistics
Population	2,765,468 (2025)
GDP	$32.41 billion (nominal; 2026); $66.29 billion (PPP; 2026);
GDP rank	113th (nominal; 2025); 124th (PPP; 2025);
GDP growth	3.9% (2023); 4.0% (2024); 3.8% (2025); 3.6% (2026); 3.5% (2027f);
GDP per capita	$12,150 (nominal; 2026); $24,840 (PPP; 2026);
GDP per capita rank	80th (nominal; 2025); 80th (PPP; 2025);
GDP by sector	agriculture: 18.62%; industry: 21.39%; services: 47.35%; (2022);
Inflation (CPI)	1.9% (February 2025)
Population below poverty line	22% in poverty (2020); 14% on less than $6.85/day (2020); 46.6% at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE, 2021);
Gini coefficient	29.4 low (2021)
Human Development Index	0.810 very high (2023, 71st); 0.705 high (2023, IHDI 62nd);
Corruption Perceptions Index	42 out of 100 points (2024) (80th)
Labour force	1.376.643 (2023); 75.5% employment rate (Q4 2024);
Labour force by occupation	agriculture: 21.4%; industry: 28.3%; services: 50.3%; (2024);
Unemployment	8.8% (Q4 2024); Youth (15-29) rate: 19.1% (Q4 2024);
Average gross salary	ALL 83.401/ €850/ $920 monthly (Q4 2024) [1]
Average net salary	$850-1000$ per month
Main industries	footwear, apparel and clothing; tourism, oil, cement, chemicals, mining, basic metals, Food and beverages, hydropower, auto parts
External
Exports	$3.93 billion (2024)
Export goods	apparel and clothing, footwear; asphalt, metals and metallic ores, crude oil; cement and construction materials, vegetables, fruits, tobacco, processed foods and beverages, hydropower, automotive parts
Main export partners	EU 71.25% Italy 39.4%; Greece 7.8%; Germany 5.68%; Spain 3.45%; France 2.23%; ; Serbia 7.3%; China 4.32%; United States 2.87%; Montenegro 2.44%; North Macedonia 2.38% (2024);
Imports	$9.716 billion (2024)
Import goods	machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, textiles, chemicals
Main import partners	EU 53.63% Italy 20.6%; Greece 9.12%; Germany 6.11%; Bulgaria 2.88%; Poland 2.03%; ; China 12.2%; Turkey 9.83%; Serbia 3.8%; United States 2.15%; Saudi Arabia 2.09% (2024);
FDI stock	10.074 billion (2021); Abroad: N/A;
Current account	−$1.050 billion (2022)
Gross external debt	$8.5 billion (2023)
Public finances
Government debt	55.5% of GDP (2024)
Foreign reserves	$5.634.561 billion (2021)
Budget balance	−3% (of GDP) (2022)
Revenues	5.4 billion (2022)
Expenses	6.4 billion (2022)
Economic aid	recipient: ODA: $366 million (top donors were Italy, EU, Germany) (2003)
Credit rating	Standard & Poor's:; BB (Stable); Moody's:; Ba3 (Stable);
	All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

The economy of Albania is a developing mixed economy. Since the early 2000s, the economy transitioned from a centralized to a mixed, free-market economic system. Its largest sectors are service (54.1%), agriculture (21.7%), and industrial (24.2%). The country has natural resources, and the economy is mainly bolstered by agriculture, food processing, lumber, oil, cement, chemicals, mining, basic metals, hydro power, tourism, textile industry, and petroleum extraction. The strongest industries are energy, mining, metallurgy, agriculture, and tourism. Primary industrial exports are clothing and chromium.

Albania has an emerging tourism sector. With over 6.4 million tourists visiting Albania in 2019, tourism generates revenue in excess of $2.4 billion annually.