Families in Korça and Tirana experienced the smallest increase in monthly expenses during 2024

Families in the regions of Gjirokastër, Kukës and Fier had the highest increase in spending capacity in 2024 compared to 2023, relative to other regions of the country. INSTAT data from the Household Budget Survey show that the monthly expenditures of family units in Gjirokastër increased by 2.9 percent in 2024, the highest level nationwide, followed by Kukës with 2.5 percent and Fier with 2.3 percent. In these regions, household spending grew more than the national average of 1.5 percent.

In Gjirokastër, the increase is linked to the sustained development of tourism, which especially after the pandemic has encouraged the opening of new family businesses. The region of Kukës experienced massive youth emigration mainly to the United Kingdom over the last 15 years. This new wave of emigration has positively influenced household consumption in the region, which, despite the increase, remains the lowest in the country in terms of household spending levels.

On the other hand, families in cities like Korça and Tirana experienced the lowest increase in spending, with 0.4 and 0.5 percent each, recording a smaller change. The slowdown in spending increases in the capital reflects the maturing of Tirana’s economy, whose families have the largest budgets nationwide. A family in Tirana spent an average of 108,588 lek last year, 14.4 percent higher than the national average and 31 percent more than Kukës, the country’s poorest region. Families in the capital face higher costs than the rest of the country due to higher housing rents and generally higher prices for food, educational services, and other goods and services.

Cities with the lowest growth in household spending in 2024, such as Korça (0.4 percent), Tirana (0.5 percent), Lezha (0.5 percent) and Durrës (0.7 percent), are in a more mature phase of economic development. Tirana and Durrës already have consolidated markets where the room for rapid expansion is more limited, while growth focuses more on service quality and innovation rather than quantity.

In Korça, although agriculture and seasonal tourism have developed, the lack of new industrial investments and the departure of young people to Tirana and abroad have slowed the growth rate. Meanwhile, areas starting from a lower economic base have higher growth rates, while cities that have reached a stable level of development are moving at a slower pace.

“KORÇA BOOM”