The business climate has deteriorated significantly over the past year. The newly released 2025 AmCham Business Index has recorded a sharp decline compared to the previous year, with the main impact being the domestic political climate, infrastructure, economic performance, government bureaucracy, and corruption.

According to the publication, the AmCham Business Index for 2025 reached 40.34 points out of a possible 100, marking a decrease of 6.13 points compared to the value of 46.47 in 2024.

“The indicators signal a systemic deterioration of market integrity in Albania, with some of the key components that have marked the strongest decline compared to 2024. The concentration of such a large number of indicators on negative trajectories suggests that the weakening is not isolated, but affects several fundamental dimensions of the business environment,” stated the head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Albania, Neritan Mullaj.

This is the steepest historical decline since 2012, when the index began to be published. The overall perception of AmCham members regarding the business climate in Albania also declined in 2025, decreasing by 9.54 points and dropping to a value of 37.02.

The main concerns identified by survey participants for 2025 were: monopoly and fair competition, government bureaucracy, domestic political climate, informal economy, availability of qualified local staff, and corruption.

“The informality indicator remains one of the main concerns for businesses in Albania. According to the survey results, 73% of respondents perceive the level of informality as high or very high,” Mullaj underlined.

Although “finding qualified local staff” was the only indicator that improved in 2025 (+1.45 points), it still remains among the main concerns for businesses operating in Albania.

Perceptions worsened in almost all key business climate indicators during 2025. Businesses also reported a perceived decline in relations with public authorities.

The perceptions of survey participants on the performance of the Albanian economy also weakened significantly in 2025, falling by 11.44 points.

The most positive assessments of the confidence index are energy supply, demand for goods and services in exports, and relations with the customs administration.

When asked about expectations for 2025, during the compilation of the 2024 index, businesses appeared optimistic, expecting an improvement. Reality showed that they were disappointed, with the index marking a sharp decline. For 2026, business expectations are no longer optimistic, as the index is not expected to record any improvement.