Kukës region was ranked in 2020 as the poorest region in the country, although it has the highest density of natural resources such as energy resources, from where the whole country is supplied, has rich chrome mines that are systematically exploited and has The Alps in the Valbona area await tourists from all over the world. 

In 2020, the per capita income in the Kukes region was 63% of the national average and 53% of the per capita income of people living in Tirana. 

Per capita income in Kukës was 2945 euros in 2020, while the national average income was 4,681 euros per capita. In the same year in Tirana the per capita income was 6279 euros. 

Over the last decade, the poorest region, instead of narrowing the gap with the rest of Albania, has further deepened the gap as it has experienced systematic economic decline in recent years. 

The economic performance of Kukës region shows the indiscriminate use of natural resources, the use of which does not bring income to the city. 

Cities with such conditions in Europe are the richest because they benefit through the rent of income from the use of assets. 

If the economy of Tirana remains in place, Kukës would take at least 20 years to grow by 2% per year to reach the level of the capital. The northern city is also ranked among the poorest in Europe and for this fact is rapidly depopulating by external and internal emigration. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has further deepened inequality between regions of the country. The North, the economically weakest region of the country has been further impoverished during 2020, as its economy fell at a faster pace than in the other two regions of the country, the Center and the South. 

The national economy fell by 3.5% during the pandemic year 2020, but in the Northern Region, which includes the regions of Shkodra, Kukes, Dibra, Lezha and Durres, the decline was 5.25%. In the Center region, which includes the regions of Tirana and Elbasan, the economic decline during the pandemic was 2.8%, while in the South region, which includes the regions of Berat, Fier, Korça, Gjirokastra and Vlora, the decline was 3.23 percent. 

In recent years economic growth is being distributed unevenly increasing the concentration of the economy and income in the center of the country. During 2021 only Tirana, Fieri and Gjirokastra had incomes above the national average. 

(Source: Monitor)