Balkans | The capital of Albania and the third in the region in terms of cost of living

Albania’s capital, Tirana, has become the third most expensive city to live in in the Western Balkans, after Budva and Belgrade.

According to the Numbeo 2023 Cost of Living Report, Basel tops the list for 2023, followed by Zurich, Lausanne, Zug and Bern, all in Switzerland. Other cities that rank highly in terms of cost in Europe are Copenhagen in Denmark, Espoo in Finland, Dublin in Ireland, and Nice in France.

The besieged city of Kharkiv in Ukraine is at the bottom of the list. In terms of the Western Balkans, Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, Tuzla in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nice in Serbia and Craiova in Romania are among the cheapest places to live in Europe.

Belgrade was the most expensive city in the region, followed by Budva in Montenegro and Tirana in Albania.

While Tirana is rated as cheap in all of Europe, it is an expensive city for locals. Rising costs and hyperinflation have pushed thousands of people to the brink of poverty. In the city, half of the population currently lives in poverty or is at risk of falling into it.

Data from Albania’s national statistics agency INSTAT showed that 12.6% of working Albanians in 2021-2022 were also at risk of falling into poverty.

Source: Balkan News