Even though almost every action with the administration in the country is being offered online, foreign businesses perceive that 2024 there has been a significant increase in bureaucracy in the country, according to the Survey for the Business Environment in Albania 2024.

Business representatives believe that the level of bureaucracy they face has increased, reaching 64 points out of 100, 21 points more than in 2023, when it was 43 points on the same scale.

The survey still shows a slight improvement in the environment for doing business in the country, but it remains below the average in favorability, not exceeding the level of 50, out of 100, which is the maximum indicator.

The survey for the Business Environment in Albania 2024 was carried out during the months of August-October 2024 through the involvement of the foreign investor community in the country. The findings were presented by the Association of Foreign Investors in Albania, Confindustria Albania, the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Albania, and the Greek Business Association in Albania.

The main respondents of this survey were important foreign businesses in Albania, in the sectors of information and communication technologies, heavy industries and mining, energy and environment, financial services, trade, logistics, tourism, consulting services, etc.

Foreign investors evaluate the current situation of doing business in Albania with 49 out of 100 points, with an increase of 3 points compared to the year 2023 (46 points), however, they do not manage to exceed the average in the degree of favorability. When looking at the expectations for the business climate in the future, they reach the same result as in 2023, with 52 points out of 100, also in 2024.

In terms of the global and national macroeconomic situation, foreign investors consider "the current devaluation of the euro and the impact its impact on their business", as well as "the impact of the current high rate of inflation", as the two most serious issues affecting their business, with a slight decrease on the intensity scale, compared to the 2023 survey.

Looking at internal factors, business representatives believe that there is an increase in the level of bureaucracy they face, reaching 64 points out of 100, 21 points more than in 2023, where there were 43 points on the same scale. Up to 69% of business representatives also affirm that informality is present in the sectors where they operate.

Order and security are the dimensions with the best performance in this category, where 33% respond that they face problems in this direction, however, the intensity of these problems is evaluated with 61 points out of 100 on the same scale.

Furthermore, over 63% of respondents believe that the government is not transparent enough to their business. When considering doing business in Albania, an improvement of 7 points is observed for the Albanian political climate, considered problematic with 49 points, compared to 56 in 2023, on the intensity scale. The Albanian judiciary, on the other hand, received 55 points, an increase of 12 points compared to 43 points in 2023. The energy supply section of the 2024 survey sees an overall improvement compared to 2023, with all dimensions that do not cross the midline of intensity on the rating scale.

The situation does not look very positive when assessing the tax system in the country, with only 3 dimensions out of 9 assessed slightly exceeding the average intensity on the assessment scale. Specifically, "Frequency of changes in tax legislation and practices and its impact on business" 55 points), "Importance and clarity of decisions/interpretations issued by tax authorities and their impact on the business" 51 points), and "Level I liaison/communication between platforms/different government institutions" 51 points).

When we look at relations with Albanian institutions, even though only 1 dimension crosses the middle line in the scale of intensity, the capacities of local or central institutions, as well as the level of expertise of public officials, in the performance of their functions, with 56 points), there was a slight decrease in overall performance in this regard, in almost all dimensions assessed.