While concerns about an increase in inflation remain high, core inflation fell in March. According to information from the Bank of Albania, annual core inflation fell to 2.72%, from 3.06% a month earlier. However, core inflation remains on the rise compared to the same period in 2025, when it was 2.5%.

According to the Bank of Albania's analysis, the increase in rent is the main source of domestic inflationary pressures and the most determining factor that has brought about the increase in core inflation. The decline in March, most likely, seems to be due to the effect of the comparative base and the closure of an annual cycle of rental price increases.

However, core inflation still remains above the level of total inflation in the economy, which, for March, according to INSTAT figures, reached 2.6%.

The sub-basket that measures core inflation is calculated on a group of products and services that constitute 69.8% of the total Consumer Price Index basket.

Core inflation excludes products that are inherently highly volatile, such as food and energy. The main purpose of calculating core inflation is to strip the overall increase in prices of shorter-term fluctuations. Core inflation is an important indicator for understanding longer-term price trends and is therefore continuously monitored by the Bank of Albania.

In parallel with core inflation, net core inflation also experienced a slight decrease. For March, this indicator fell to 3.37%, from 3.59% in February, but up from 2.26% a year earlier. Net core inflation further excludes processed food subgroups (including bread and cereals) from inflation and is measured over 49% of the CPI basket.

Meanwhile, inflation excluding all food and energy products in March 2026 fell to 3.28%, from 3.44% in February and 2.17% a year earlier.