Albania is the most agricultural country in Europe, due to the size of the sector in the economy (about 20% of GDP by 2021) and the contribution to employment, but on the other hand it has among the highest dairy prices in Europe.

In 2022, our country was ranked among the European countries with the highest price of dairy products and eggs in a recent Eurostat publication on per capita consumption data in EU and candidate countries with 2022.

The prices of dairy and eggs in Albania were 111.7 percent of the average of the European Union countries, or to put it another way, if 1 kilogram of these products in the EU costs an average of 100 Lek in Albania, it cost 111.7 Lek in 2022.

Albania was ranked among 14 European countries with the highest dairy price last year.

In the last three years, in many countries of Europe, prices decreased compared to the EU average, but in Albania there was an increase.

In 2020, the price of dairy and eggs in our country was 105% of the EU average, but in the following two years it increased by 6.8 percentage points.

Detailed data from Eurostat show that in 2022 the cheapest prices for dairy and eggs in relation to the EU average were in Poland with 75%, followed by North Macedonia with 82.2%, Bosnia , 90.1%, France with 90.3, Turkey with 94.7%.

Even Italy (108.7%), Spain (102), Germany (102%) have dairy cheaper than in Albania.

On the other hand, Iceland, a small island country in the North of Europe where there is snow for most of the year, dairy prices are 167.2% of the EU, followed by Norway with 151.6%, Switzerland with 148.8%, Greece with 139.8%, Malta 131%, etc.

As a result of the high prices, the per capita expenditure of Albanians for the consumption of dairy and eggs will increase significantly in 2022, reaching 324 euros per inhabitant per year.

From 2019 to 2022, the expenses of Albanians for milk and eggs will increase by 30.6% according to Eurostat data.

The Irish, Serbs, Bulgarians and Poles have the lowest per capita costs for floods with less than 200-232 euros per year per capita.

Dairy and eggs are the main product of the basket of goods with high importance in the nutrition process recommended for daily consumption in all age groups by the World Health Organization.

The high prices of these products, in addition to increasing the cost of living, seriously endanger the health of the population that cannot financially afford their daily purchase.

The domestic milk processing industry is suffering from rising costs and a decline in the number of cattle, which has influenced the increase in prices, making it uncompetitive and favoring imports.

(Source: Monitor)