Standard & Poor’s Rating
The international credit rating agency “Standard & Poors” (S&P) has increased the long-term rating of Albania’s sovereign credit by one category. For the first time, this assessment has moved to ‘BB-‘ from ‘B+’ which was, emphasizing the improvement of the country’s fiscal position and external position.
This assessment comes after the assessment in September 2023 of “Standard & Poors”, where the outlook for Albania was improved from “stable” to “positive”. (March 2024)
Moody’s Rating
The international credit rating agency “Moody’s” has reviewed its rating, increasing Albania’s outlook from “B1 – with positive outlook” to “Ba3 – stable”.
Moody’s predicts a stable economic growth in the medium term, driven by European Union funding and the implementation of relevant reforms. Foreign direct investment, especially in the tourism and energy sectors, is expected to play a key role, while sectoral transformations aim to boost productivity. These changes are expected to improve the economy by shifting the workforce from agriculture to more productive sectors, such as tourism. Furthermore, a sustained increase in labor market participation will mitigate the population’s demographic challenges. (October 2024)
Index of Economic Freedom
Albania’s economic freedom score is 64.8, making its economy the 48th freest in the 2024 Index of Economic Freedom.
Its rating has decreased by 0.5 point from last year, and Albania is ranked 27th out of 44 countries in the Europe region.
The country’s economic freedom score is higher than the world average and lower than the regional average. Albania’s economy is considered “moderately free” according to the 2024 Index.
Performance of Tourism in Albania
Albania is the top performing destination in Europe for 2023 and is the fourth country in the world, according to the UN Tourism Barometer (UNWTO).
Passenger traffic performance
Albania continues to lead the list for the period April-June 2024, according to Airports Council International (ACI) data, in the international classification for the increase in the number of air passengers compared to 2019 (before the pandemic).
Albania’s growth for the second quarter of 2024 is 259.4%, ranking first in Europe.
The World Bank’s report “Women, Business and Law 2024” analyzes laws and regulations affecting women’s economic opportunities in 190 economies, identifies barriers to women’s economic participation, and encourages reform of discriminatory laws.
According to the latest publication of this report, Albania has achieved an average score (WBL score) of 91.3 out of 100, ranking 41st out of 190 economies, leaving behind some of the countries in the region and some of the developed economies in the world.
Tirana, part of the European cities and regions of the future, as the best destinations to invest
FDi Intelligence has listed Tirana, for the second year in a row, among the European cities of the future, where the most promising cities and regions for doing business in all of Europe are listed.
In the annual report “European Cities and Regions of the Future 2024” published recently, Tirana is ranked 7th in the top 10 category of mid-sized European cities – cost effectiveness.
Tirana became part of this list for the first time in 2023, where it was ranked in the same category as in 2024.
European Innovation Scoreboard
The European Commission in the publication European Innovation Scoreboard 2023 has rated Albania as an Emerging Innovator with a performance of 41.1% compared to the EU average for 2023.
In the climate of innovation in the Albanian economy, the following areas have the most positive impact:
· Environment-related technologies performance is 190.8% compared to the EU average;
· Sales of innovative products performance is 169.2% compared to the EU average;
· Product innovators performance is 81.4% compared to the EU average;
· Lifelong learning performance is 79.4% compared to the EU average;
· Population with tertiary education performance is 75.3% compared to the EU average.
SME POLICY INDEX Western Balkans and Turkey
The report “SME POLICY INDEX Western Balkans and Turkey 2022”, published by the OECD, presents a comprehensive overview of the implementation of the ten principles of the Small Business Act for Europe (SBA) in the EU enlargement region, as well as monitors the progress achieved for the period 2019-2021.
Albania is estimated to have made good progress according to the “SME POLICY INDEX Western Balkans and Turkey 2022” report:
· Albania continues to be the leader in the region in terms of the “Operating Environment for SMEs” with a score of 4.32 in 2022, from 3.99 in 2019;
· The number of SMEs per 1,000 inhabitants in Albania has increased by 12.3%;
· An Albanian SME employs 5.5 people, marking the highest rate in the region;
· The export weight of Albanian SMEs has increased by 4.5%.
