A recent survey on Albania’s inequality made by the state statistical institute INSTAT, has found that during 2016 the richest 10% of households spent 2.5 times more than the overwhelming 90% of Albanians.

In the meantime, consumer prices grew 1.3 % while Albanians household revenue grew only with 0.6%.

The data indicates that the 3.4% GDP growth during 2016 (due to major energy related investments) has failed to be redistributed among the average Albanian family.

The survey shows that the “food and non-alcoholic beverages” category continues to be the first budget of an average Albanian family accounting 45% of the total expenditures.

Adding to this the housing costs, Albanians achieve to spend only 4.8% of their monthly revenue on clothing and footwear, 4.4% on restaurants or hotels and 3% on culture and entertainment. An average family revenue varies from 422 euro/month in the poorest cities up to 630 euro/month in Tirana.

These data confirm the latest findings of the RCC Balkans Barometer published last month in which Albanians appear to have the highest difficulties in paying their daily commodities if compared to the rest of the Balkans. The RCC survey shows that close to 1 out of 2 Albanian households can’t keep their home warm or twice as much than the Balkans average; 1 out 3 can’t pay their loan installment and 2 out 5 are unable to pay rent or utility bills.