Tirana has continued to worsen its ranking as the capital with the worst quality of life in Europe this year, according to Numbeo, the largest data system for the cost and quality of life, while it is among the last in the world. 

Compared to the middle of a year ago, the quality of life has deteriorated. In the current ranking, Tirana was the 232nd out of 254 capitals and cities, while a year ago, in the middle of 2021, it was in the 215th position. 

The Albanian capital was included in the ranking for the first time in the middle of 2020, where it was again ranked last in Europe, in 218th place, but since then the ranking is only getting worse. 

Numbeo's Quality of Life Index is an assessment of overall quality of life, using an empirical formula that takes into account purchasing power, pollution, cost of living, security, healthcare, travel time staying in traffic, the climate as well as the ratio of real estate prices to income. 

The Albanian capital is penalized by high real estate prices in relation to income, pollution, health care, while it is slightly better in the climate index. 

Tirana ranks 44th most expensive out of 254 cities and capitals in the ratio of real estate prices to income. Buying an apartment in the capital is just as expensive relative to income as buying it in London, Milan, Rome, or Munich. 

For the pollution index, the Albanian capital is in 242nd place, the most polluted in Europe and among the last cities in this ranking. 

In the traffic index, Tirana is in the 181st place out of 254 cities that have the most traffic, but it is still better than capitals such as London or Paris. 

But, in the purchasing power index (which measures purchasing power in relation to the New York average), the Albanian capital is among the last, in 231st place. 

In the Health Care Index, Tirana is in 246th place, the last in Europe and being ranked among the 9 cities with the worst health care that are included in this ranking. 

In the climate index, where the capital is ranked 85th, with a relatively suitable climate. 

In the safety index, Albania ranks 131, better than the region (Skopje, Podgorica), or than Barcelona, ??Turin, Rome. 

Of the other capitals of the region, Sarajevo (179) of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgrade of Serbia (208), Skopje of North Macedonia (219) ranks best in terms of quality of living. There are no data for Pristina and Podgorica. 

The cities with the best quality of life in the world are Canberra and Adelaide in Australia and the worst are Lagos in Nigeria and Manila in the Philippines. 

(Source: Monitor)