Having lunch in a restaurant in Tirana is now much more expensive than in years. High prices in restaurants are burdening not only consumers' pockets, but also their emotions.

Representatives of the Association of Bars and Restaurants told Monitor that prices in restaurants have increased by 20 to 30%. The highest price trend is for restaurants in certain areas of the capital, such as the former Block or Paris Commune.

Reasons for the increase in price remain the high increase in the prices of supplier products, the wages of workers due to their lack. According to the association of bars and restaurants, the salaries of waiters have increased by 30% so far. They add that the price trend is normalizing for service structures, which until now have operated at low prices compared to European countries.

"In services, such as restaurants, prices have increased by 20 to 30% due to the unbridled increase in the price of supply goods and salaries of over 30% of service employees, which are not found. So it is a reflection of all the factors that have burdened this sector. Also, until today the restaurants have operated with people who are not from the sector and low prices. Prices are heading to the point where dining out is no cheaper than dining at home. So we are moving towards a normality of the market", affirmed representatives of the association.

Therefore, the Association of Bars and Restaurants had warned earlier that a strong increase in prices is expected from March, due to high costs from the increase in wages and the increase in the price of supply goods.

The bar and restaurant service sector, as well as other sectors of the economy, are suffering from acute labor force problems. For the bar and restaurant sector, according to the association's data, there is a shortage of 15,000 employees, where the main cause of human resource vacancies is the departure of the population in emigration. Until 2019, according to INSTAT data, there were about 45,000 people employed in bars and restaurants, where, however, it is estimated that the sector has high informality.

The sector also suffered from the labor force crisis during the summer period, where many bars and restaurants in the coastal areas were forced to hire employees from the countries of the region such as Montenegro, Kosovo or North Macedonia, as well as to increase the salaries of the locals.

According to INSTAT, the Consumer Price Index, which measures the annual changes, for the group of bars, restaurants (catering) has recorded the highest growth during the last months at least since 2007, when INSTAT reports the data. The strongest increase was in the period August-November 2022, with over 6%.

In the country, according to INSTAT, there are about 15,000 subjects that exercise activity in the food and drink service, but about 70% of them are bars, serving only drinks.

(Source: Monitor)