For the first time in 2024, food prices in Albania are more expensive than in Europe

Alessandro, a tourist from Italy, leaving a supermarket in Tirana. Asked about the prices, he expresses some disappointment, as he had imagined Albania as a cheaper country, “not so expensive.” “We just left the supermarket.

"While we were inside, we didn't have time to calculate the price conversion and thought it would cost us around 10-15 euros," he says.

"We got a few things for dinner: a wine, drinks, pasta, meat, tomato sauce and vegetables for salad. We added two types of cheese and, in total, we paid about 35 euros, more expensive than in Bologna," adds Alessandro.

Elmor, another tourist from Britain, commented on the Visit Albania website about a supermarket in Golem. “I bought (by weight) 5 tomatoes, 3 onions, a head of green lettuce, a bag of small potatoes and a green pepper… 15 euros. FIFTEEN EUROS! I asked her carefully if the price was correct, and the saleswoman started typing the numbers into a calculator.

He showed me the screen and yes, that was the price. It couldn't be true, could it!? Today we went into another supermarket for a few small things – nothing big, no British products that normally cost more – and I paid by card…

Over 14 pounds!?. The lady who hosts us here told us that it is actually cheaper to eat in restaurants than to try to cook for yourself in the self-catering apartment,” he writes.

Many tourists, while they consider restaurants to be cheap, find the prices of food they buy in stores and supermarkets more expensive than in their own country.

The latest Eurostat data, which measures the price index, measured according to purchasing power parity, for European Union countries and candidate countries, confirm this trend.

For the first time since 2005, when the European statistics unit measured the data, the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Price Index for Albania has easily exceeded the 100% level (100.1%), meaning that food prices in Albania are 1% more expensive than the European Union average, at a time when incomes according to the purchasing power parity method are 41% of the EU average.

From 2005 to 2018, food prices in Albania were on average 68-78% of the EU average. From 2018, they began to rise, while in 2023, prices in Albania were on average only 7% cheaper than the EU average. While in 2024, prices were equal for the first time, even slightly exceeding it by 1%.

The most expensive food products for Albanian families compared to the EU are eggs, cheese and milk, which have jumped to 131% of the EU average, from 119.5% the previous year.

Other foods are also about 25% more expensive than in the EU (124.8%). Non-alcoholic beverages are 19% more expensive than in Europe. Albanians buy cigarettes cheaper, which cost 47% of the European average.

Compared to other European countries, food prices in Albania are almost the same as in Germany, Portugal, and Italy, while they cost more than in Spain, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Bulgaria and are the most expensive in the region.

In Europe, the most expensive food prices are in Switzerland (158.5% of the EU average), Iceland (143.9), Norway (131.2). The cheapest are Turkey (76.7%), Romania (75.5), North Macedonia (73.4%). For Kosovo, the latest data is for 2022, at the level of 83.7% of the EU average).

The reasons behind these differences are related to the high level of taxes on basket goods in Albania, especially VAT, high transport costs, not very suitable logistics, speculation and lack of competition./ Monitor