The mission, held from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2, brought together INSTAT Director-General Lantona Sado and senior officials with Eurostat representatives and the EU delegation in Albania.

Officials from Albania’s Finance Ministry and central bank also took part in discussions on inter-institutional cooperation in the production of official statistics.

The talks focused on developments and priorities within Albania’s national statistical system, compliance with EU standards and requirements, and progress towards completing Chapter 18 of the EU accession negotiations, covering statistics.

The mission assessed progress to date, identified future priorities and outlined further steps to align Albania’s statistical system with European standards.

INSTAT said cooperation with Eurostat and EU institutions was important for improving the quality, comparability and reliability of official statistics and supporting Albania’s EU integration process.

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The increase was well above the European Union average of 2.3%.

Albania recorded the fastest growth in the region, followed by Montenegro at 16.1% and North Macedonia at 15.8%. Serbia posted a 3.1% increase, while Bosnia and Herzegovina recorded a 0.2% decline.

Across Europe, Slovakia recorded the strongest growth at 37%, followed by Estonia at 8.3%, Poland at 7.8%, Slovenia at 7.4%, Lithuania at 6.8% and Italy at 5.7%.

Flight activity declined in several markets, led by Iceland with a 5.9% drop, followed by Austria at 4.7%, Cyprus at 3%, Germany at 2.4% and the Netherlands at 2%.

The increase in Albania came during the peak summer tourism season, when air travel typically rises with higher tourist and passenger flows.

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Speaking at a regular session of Parliament on 2026 state budget bill and fiscal package, Rama emphasized that Albania’s progress in reducing poverty and increasing household income is reflected in independent international assessments, arguing this is a key reason the government is serving a fourth term.

The government head cited Eurostat data indicating that “Albania has a lower risk of poverty than Serbia, Bulgaria and Turkey and is closer to the EU average.”

He said the share of food expenses in household budgets has dropped from nearly 50% when the Socialists took office to below 40% today. According to the Bank of Albania, he added, real disposable household income has risen by 4-5% annually between 2021 and 2024.

Rama also referenced a recent IMF assessment stating that “Albania is among the fastest-growing economies in Europe, with prudent fiscal and monetary policies.”

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According to Eurostat, the figure is ten times higher than the average contribution of agriculture in European Union member states and double that of regional peers, reflecting growing investment and transformation across the sector.

Demand for agricultural products continues to rise steadily, alongside export growth.

According to Albania’s Ministry of Agriculture, the country’s agricultural exports reached 5.92 billion lek in May 2025, recording a 9% year-on-year increase.

The government aims to boost agricultural exports to 1 billion euros annually by 2030.

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Member of the Parliament Evis Kushi, at the same time vice Chairwoman of the Committee for Education and Public Information Means, appreciated that this result helps to narrow the gender difference in salary.

“An employee in these sectors earns on average over 60% more than those employed in other sectors, therefore this result helps to narrow the gender pay gap, improves the economic situation and self-confidence of women and girls, as well as ensures a diverse and talented workforce in STEM, promoting a more equal and all-embracing future,” she said./r.e/p.s./

Eurostat data show that Albania has only 3 robberies per 100,000 inhabitants. In regard to this classification, Eurostat refers to robbery defined as stealing from someone using physical force, a weapon or a threat.

According to EUROSTAT, Belgium and Spain remain among the most problematic countries for robberies, with 140 robberies per 100,000 inhabitants./p.s./

Measurements according to Eurostat recorded a lower increase in prices in our country compared to measurements from the national method of INSTAT that reported inflation at 8% in August.

According to the Eurostat methodology, the largest increase in prices of 14.4% is observed in the group “transport”, followed by the groups “food and non-alcoholic beverages” with 13.3%, “alcoholic beverages and tobacco” with 5.5%, “rent, water, materials fuels and energy” with 4.9%, “furniture, home appliances and maintenance” and “entertainment and culture” with 4.7% each, “clothing and shoes” with 2.8%, “hotels, cafes and restaurants” with 2.7%, “goods and various services” with 2.4%, “health” with 1.3%, “educational service” with 1.2% and “communication” with 0.8%. /j.p/p.s./

According to the Institute of Statistics, the most increase of the prices it was noticed in the “Food and nonalcoholic beverages” group by 5.6 %, followed by “Transport” groups by 5.0 %, “Recreation and culture” by 3.2 %, “Communication” by 3.1 %, “Hotels, coffee-houses and restaurants” by 2.6 %, “Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels” by 2.5 %, “Alcoholic beverages and tobacco” by 1.1 %, “Health” 1.0 %, “Clothing and footwear” and “Furniture, household goods and maintenance” by 0.8 % each of them, and “Education services” by 0.1 %.

Meanwhile, prices of group “Miscellaneous goods and services” was decrease by 0.8 %.

This change was mainly influenced by the reduction of prices of the group “food and non-alcoholic beverages” by 0.8%, followed by the group “alcoholic beverages and tobacco” by 0.3%, “clothing and footwear” and “Miscellaneous goods and services” ”with 0.1% each.

Eurozone inflation is measured on the basis of the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices indicator. The term “harmonized” underlines the fact that all EU countries apply the same methodology in measuring the respective indicator./p.s./

According to the Eurostat methodology, the largest price increase of 4.9% is observed in the group “Food and non-alcoholic beverages”, followed by the groups “Communication” with 2.8%, “Transport” and “Hotels, cafes and restaurants” with 2.3% each, “Alcoholic beverages and tobacco”, “Health” and “Entertainment and culture” with 1.1% each, “Rent, water, fuel and energy” with 1.0%, “Furniture, home appliances and maintenance” by 0.7% and “Clothing and footwear” by 0.3%.

INSTAT reported that the monthly change measured by the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices was 0.2%. This change was mainly influenced by the increase of prices of the group “Food and non-alcoholic beverages” by 0.5%, followed by the group “Entertainment and culture” by 0.4%, “Rent, water, fuel and energy” by 0, 2% and “Transport” with 0.1%.

On the other hand, the prices of the group “Alcoholic beverages and tobacco” decreased by 0.6%, followed by “Health” by 0.2%, “Furniture, home appliances and maintenance” and “Miscellaneous goods and services” by 0,1% each./j.p/r.e/p.s./