TIRANA, Aug. 15, 2022 – Albania’s capital has further declined in a major international quality of life index, with Tirana ranking as the worst major city in Europe and 230 out of 254 in the world.
Albania saw its ranking deteriorate over the past year, when it was in the 215th position globally, according to the Numbeo international index.
Numbeo’s index, which is unique in that it is based on crowdsourcing for information, uses cost of living, purchasing power, pollution, safety, healthcare and commutes as some key indicators.
Tirana takes a big hit in the index by the unaffordability of its real estate for locals. It is also hurt by pollution and healthcare. It does well on weather and safety.
Tirana ranks 44th most expensive out of 254 cities and capitals in the ratio of real estate prices to income. Buying an apartment in Tirana is just as expensive relative to income as buying it in London, Milan, Rome, or Munich, according to an analysis by Monitor.
For the pollution index, the Albanian capital is in 242nd place, the most polluted in Europe and among the last cities in this ranking.
In the commute times and traffic index, Tirana is in the 181st place out of 254 cities that have the most traffic, but it is still better than capitals such as London or Paris.
But, in the purchasing power index, which measures purchasing power in relation to the New York average, the Albanian capital is among the last, in 231st place.
In the healthcare index, Tirana is in 246th place, the last in Europe and being ranked among the nine cities with the worst health care.
Tirana does well on safety, an important element, ranking 131st, better than the region or even major European cities like Barcelona, Turin, Rome.
Not all cities of the world are included in the ranking, and Tirana only appeared in recent years. Prishtina and Podgorica are not yet ranked, for example.
The cities with the best quality of life in the world are Canberra and Adelaide in Australia and the worst are Lagos in Nigeria and Manila in the Philippines, according to the Numbeo index.
