Although the Albanian economy has had a good performance after the pandemic and tourism has reached records, this is not translating into more well-being for the country's citizens.

The latest Eurostat data, updated for 2023, places Albania again at the bottom of Europe for per capita income at 35% of the European average, up from 34% in 2022. Albania is on par with Bosnia, while the data for Kosovo are missing.

The economic growth mainly driven by construction and real estate, or the high number of tourists does not seem to have improved the well-being of Albanians in the last two years.

North Macedonia had an income of 41% of the EU, with a decrease of one percentage point from the previous year. Serbia had this indicator at 46%, from 44% the previous year. The highest level in the region is in Montenegro, with 52%, from 50% the previous year.

Also in another indicator, that of individual consumption per capita (AIC), which measures the purchasing power of goods and services, Albania ranks last, with 42% of the European average, from 41% the previous year, being ranked Europe, 2 percentage points less than Bosnia and Herzegovina which has increased this indicator to 44% (in 2022 we were at the same levels).

The highest level was recorded by Montenegro with 65% (from 63% in 2022), followed by Serbia with 54%, with an increase of 1 percentage point, and North Macedonia with 52%, from 50% in 2022.

According to Eurostat's explanation, although GDP per capita is an important and widely used indicator of the level of economic well-being of countries, consumption per capita may be more useful for comparing the relative well-being of consumers in different countries.

During 2023, the Albanian economy grew by 3.4%, slowing down compared to 2022's 4.86% expansion. About half of this growth came from construction and real estate, which expanded by 9.7% and 11.3% respectively. It seems that this growth that is coming from construction is not managing to improve the well-being of Albanians, who continue to remain the poorest in Europe.

In 2023, Actual Individual Consumption (AIC) per capita expressed in purchasing power standards (PPS) ranged from 70% to 138% of the EU average in the 27 EU countries. AIC includes all goods and services used by households, regardless of whether they are purchased and paid for by households directly, by the government, or by non-profit organizations. It can be considered an indicator of the material well-being of households.