For at least three years, Albania has been successfully losing the regional race for wage growth, only being able to "boast" about economic growth, which in reality has come more from public administration and net taxes than from real sectors (with the exception of construction and real estate, which are the flag bearers!).
The government's strategy to boost the average wage through public administration does not seem to have worked, while the region is moving faster in improving citizens' employment income.
Even in 2025, the average gross monthly wage received by employees in Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina was 30-50% higher than that of Albanians, according to data processed by "Monitor," based on statistics from the respective countries. The only exception is Kosovo, which still has a lower wage than Albania, although it has not yet published data for 2025.
According to INSTAT, in 2025, the average gross monthly wage in Albania reached 84,000 lekë, an increase of 10.3% compared to the 2024 average. Converted to euros, the average monthly wage in 2025 was around 860 euros. Despite the "help" from the exchange rate, wages in the country remain the lowest in the region, excluding Kosovo.
The highest wage in the region in 2025 was in Serbia, at around 151,000 Serbian dinars, or 1,290 euros gross per month, according to data from the Serbian Statistical Institute. Serbia took the lead in the region, moving up from third place a year earlier, as it recorded the largest increase of 21.7%. Wages in Serbia are 430 euros higher than in Albania, or 50% more.
Second place went to Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was first in 2024. The average gross monthly wage received by citizens of this country in 2025 was 2,437 marks, or 1,245 euros, an increase of 13.2%, according to data from the Bosnia and Herzegovina Statistical Institute. A Bosnian employee earns on average 345 euros more per month than an Albanian, or 45% more.
In Montenegro, the average gross monthly wage reached 1,206 euros, an increase of 11.4%, according to data from the country's Statistical Institute. Employees in Montenegro earn on average 346 euros more than Albanians, or 40% more.
North Macedonia paid its employees an average of 68,000 dinars gross in 2025, or around 1,100 euros, an increase of 10%, the lowest in the entire region and with very little difference compared to Albania (+10.3%). However, a Macedonian employee earns 240 euros more gross than an Albanian, or 28% more.
The Kosovo Statistical Institute publishes wage data with a delay. The latest available data are for 2024, where the average gross monthly wage was 639 euros, the lowest in the region.
Although Albania has shown stable macroeconomic figures and satisfactory economic growth on paper, this growth has not come from increased productivity or from sectors that create sustainable added value in the long term. It has been mainly supported by the expansion of wages in public administration, as well as construction and real estate, which have an immediate effect on indicators but do not necessarily increase the economy's competitiveness or add lasting value to it.
The result is a fragile model where citizens face the most expensive food in the region while continuing to have among the lowest incomes, pushing many Albanians to engage in regional tourism for shopping, both for fuel, which has intensified recently, and for food and other products.
This means less consumption within the country, less turnover for local businesses, and lost revenue for the budget from taxes, plunging the country into a vicious cycle where economic growth does not translate into higher well-being for citizens. On the contrary, it deepens the gap between positive indicators on paper and the daily reality of families, who pay more for basic goods but continue to have limited purchasing power.
In an economy where consumption is shifting beyond borders due to high prices and low incomes, the losses are not only for local businesses but for the entire economic chain, from trade to fiscal revenue and the possibility of creating higher-quality jobs in the future with higher wages, which makes us lose in the regional race.