TIRANA, Dec. 13 – Albania continues remaining one of Europe’s poorest countries, leaving behind only potential candidates Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo among regional EU aspirants, according to a report by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
The report shows Albania’s household material welfare and economic activity still lag behind some regional competitors and are about 60 percentage points below the EU-28 average.
Albania’s actual individual consumption (AIC), a measure of households’ material welfare, slightly dropped to 37 percent of the EU 28 average in 2015, down from 38 percent in 2014, on par with Bosnia and Herzegovina, but 63 percent below the average level in the EU where it ranged from 53 percent in Bulgaria to 137 percent in Luxembourg.
While Eurostat provides no explanations for Albania’s decline in consumption, two rather aggressive nationwide campaigns to collect massive electricity debts and formalize thousands of businesses previously operating informally are estimated to have further affected sluggish domestic consumption despite the economy picking up to 2.6 percent in 2015.
Among regional EU aspirants, the AIC per capita expressed in purchasing power standards (PPS), an artificial currency unit that eliminates price level differences between countries, ranged from 37 percent of the EU average in Albania and Bosnia, 40 percent in Macedonia, 46 percent in Serbia, 52 percent in Montenegro and 58 percent in Turkey.
When it comes to the GDP per capita, a measure of economic activity, Albania leaves only Bosnia and Herzegovina behind.
Albania’s GDP per capita expressed in PPS remained unchanged at 30 percent of the EU average in 2015, trailing Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro and Turkey by 6 to 22 percentage points.
Earlier Eurostat report have also confirmed Albania has one of Europe’s lowest consumer prices but suffers the poorest per capita consumption.
Albania’s food and non-alcoholic beverage prices were estimated at 68 percent of the EU-28 average in 2015, higher only compared to Macedonia’s 58 percent among regional EU aspirant competitors. However, within this group, prices of milk, cheese and eggs which are overwhelmingly domestically produced were rated at 93 percent of the EU average, considerably higher compared to regional countries.
The country’s alcoholic beverage and tobacco prices stood 23 percent and 66 percent below the EU average in 2015.
At €3,440 in 2014, Albania’s GDP per capita was probably higher only compared to Kosovo whose 2013 GDP per capita was at €2,835. The GDP per capita in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro and Turkey ranged from €3,641 to €7,819 in 2014.
However, when it comes to the size of the GDP, Albania leaves behind neighbouring Kosovo, Montenegro and Macedonia. Albania’s GDP was estimated at about €10 billion in 2014 when the economy grew by 2 percent.
The Albanian economy has grown between 1 to 3 percent in the past seven crisis years compared to a pre-crisis decade of 6 percent annually.
Albania is an EU candidate country of 2.8 million residents and more than 1 million migrants abroad hopeful of launching accession negotiations as it has recently adopted a long-awaited reform in the justice system, perceived as one of the country’s most corrupt sectors. The reform will scan all judges and prosecutors over their professional proficiency, moral integrity and independence from the influence of the organized crime, corruption and political power.
