Young people are leaving, the population is falling, the number of bars is decreasing, but still for the most part they are almost full all day long, making us one of the countries where we spend the most time (and money) in coffee shops. 

Despite the fact that the bar-cafe business is no longer what it used to be, Albania continues to be one of the countries with the highest number of bar-cafes in relation to the population. 

Eurostat data, which coincide with those of INSTAT, revealed that in 2020 in Albania there were 15,577 entities that were active in the "Beverage and Food Service". 

In relation to the population, the country has 547 bar-restaurants per 100,000 inhabitants. 

According to Eurostat data on the number of subjects in the "food and beverage service" activity and the corresponding populations, processed by Monitor, Portugal is the first in Europe for the high number of bars and restaurants in relation to the population. 

In Portugal there are a total of about 74 thousand bars for a population of 10.3 million inhabitants, or 718 bars per 100 thousand inhabitants. 

The second is Greece, which has this indicator of 709. There are more bars and restaurants in Albania compared to countries that are popular tourist destinations, such as Spain (535) or Italy (451). 

The list is followed by the Czech Republic (450), Cyprus (428), Croatia (425). Compared to the average of the European Union (332), there are almost twice as many bars and restaurants in Albania. (see graph: Number of businesses in the beverage and food business, in relation to the population). 

In Germany and the Nordic countries, you have to "work" a little to find a bar or restaurant, as there are less than 200 such for every 100,000 inhabitants. 

If you go to other countries in the region, there are very few chances to find as many bars as in Albania, especially in Serbia. In Serbia, there are only 2,764 bars, according to Eurostat, or only 40 such entities per 100,000 inhabitants, the lowest in Europe. In North Macedonia the indicator is 199.5, in Bosnia 207, while the data for Montenegro and Kosovo are missing. 

Other INSTAT data revealed earlier that the annual turnover of bars and restaurants in 2021 in the country was 47.2 billion lek, or about 400 million euros, that local consumers or foreign tourists have spent to consume in bars and restaurants . 

Compared to 2020, the income of this activity increased by 17%, but it remained 9% lower than before the pandemic. The data shows that by 2019 spending in bars and restaurants had grown rapidly, culminating in 52 billion ALL (430 million euros) in 2019. 

Not only the citizens' expenses for bars and restaurants have decreased. The bar business doesn't seem so attractive anymore. 

INSTAT data show that the number of enterprises operating in food accommodation has continuously decreased since 2016, when it reached almost 19 thousand. In that period, Albania ranked among the first in Europe for the high number of bars, in relation to the population. 

(Source: Monitor)