Albania and Kosovo are two countries whose citizens can buy fewer goods and products in Europe, considering their annual per capita income (excluding the countries of the former Soviet Union).

The data have been updated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which publishes the GDP per capita indicator, according to purchasing power standards, in international per capita dollars. An international dollar has the same purchasing power over gross domestic product (GDP) as a US dollar in the United States.

According to the IMF, in Albania, the domestic production per capita, according to purchasing power standards, in international dollars for 2020 was 14.2 thousand dollars, a figure that is 5.5% lower than Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is ranked before us and 32- 33% lower than in Serbia and Montenegro, which are the two countries in the region with the highest per capita income. Even compared to Northern Macedonia, this indicator is 30% lower.

Albania ranks 90th in the world, leaving behind only Armenia (93), Ukraine (95), Moldova (98). While Kosovo is absolutely the poorest in Europe, with 11.2 thousand US dollars per capita, ranking 108th in the world.

From the region, Montenegro leads, in 70th place with 19.2 thousand US dollars per capita, followed by Serbia (71), with 19.1 thousand US dollars. Northern Macedonia is 79th, with 16.7 thousand international dollars.

Due to the faster growth rates of recent years, Bosnia and Herzegovina is also ranked before Albania, in 83rd place, with 15 thousand international dollars.

Compared to the previous year, the income of Albanians, measured according to the purchasing power parity indicator, has decreased by 2.1%, as a result of the consequences that the Covid-19 pandemic had in Albania. While in 2020, this indicator is expected to reach 15.2 thousand international dollars per capita (with an increase of 7.2%).

Compared to the Western European average, the income of Albanians, measured in US dollars per capita is 3.3 times lower (the average of Western Europe was 47.7 US dollars in 2020).

While in Kosovo, this indicator is 4.2 times lower than the Western European average. In recent years, Albania has almost stalled in the so-called convergence process, which requires faster growth of developing countries, with the aim of achieving within a short period of time the average of developed countries.

Albania has made progress from 2008 to 2011, when GDP per capita, in terms of purchasing power, increased from 25% of the European average to 30%. Then, it remained still and in 2019, the indicator was as much as 31% of the EU average.

In relation to other countries in the region (excluding Kosovo), Albania continues to be the last in Europe. The best performance was recorded by Montenegro, which reached 50% of the EU average in 2019. The gap between the two neighbouring countries has widened to 19 percentage points, from 17% in 2008.

(Source: Monitor)