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| A fuel worker filling the car with gasoline |
A car user has to buy oil today with about 192 leks per liter and gasoline with about 194 leks, at levels that have reached a historical record.
Compared to other European countries, in absolute value, Albania is ranked 15th in terms of cost of a liter of fuel, with about 1.8 USD / liter, after countries such as Greece, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Belgium France, who have much higher incomes than us.
The chart was published by Global Price Petrol and last updated on January 31st.
But, in relation to purchasing power, Albania has the most expensive oil in Europe, while its citizens need 4.7% of their income to buy a liter of oil. Two years ago, this share was 4.5%, which shows that oil prices in the country have grown faster than revenue rates.
The data are processed by "Monitor", based on information on the price of oil provided by Global Price Petrol and per capita income according to the purchasing power method of the World Bank (2020). The indicator measures affordability, based on the percentage of daily income needed to buy a liter of fuel (see table at the bottom).
Albania has the lowest income per capita in Europe, along with Kosovo, based on purchasing power parity, at $ 13.9 and $ 11.4 thousand, respectively, a World Bank unit that measures Gross Domestic Product by purchasing power parity (see column: Annual per capita income, by purchasing power - international $).
After Albania comes Kosovo, with 4.5% of daily income. Although income per capita is lower in Kosovo, oil also costs less, making it relatively cheaper than in Albania. Next are the countries of the region, Bosnia (3.3), Serbia (3.2% of daily income), Northern Macedonia (2.8%), Montenegro (2.6%).
Albania has almost the same oil price as Germany (about $ 1.8 per liter), but a German citizen needs only 1.24% of daily income to buy a liter of fuel. In Denmark, where oil costs 1.9 euros/liter, they need only 1.1% of daily income.
Fuel prices have risen sharply in recent days, for the seventh time in just a few months. Oil is traded at about 190-192 leks, while gasoline is up to 194 leks. Since 2021, the price of oil has risen several times. Compared to the low level of about 148 leks, that reached during the pandemic period, oil in the country has risen in price by 44 leks per liter or about 30%.
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| Chart of the percentage of daily income needed to buy a liter of diesel, Europe. Source: Global Petrol Price |
The main reason for the rise in prices is related to the rise in fuel prices on the stock exchanges, where oil is traded at 90 dollars per barrel, from about 20 dollars that went down in March 2020, when the world began to suffer the consequences of the pandemic.
Another internal factor is related to the latest fiscal package which provides for the indexation of excise with inflation, which has been implemented by traders since January 1 this year. Finally inflation reached the highest level of the decade of 3.7%, while the annual average of 2021 according to Instat is 2%.