Guide
The Cost of Living in Albania
Among the lowest cost bases in Europe — with Tirana and the summer coast as the two big exceptions.
In plain language
Albania's money is the lek. But rents, property and some tourist prices are given in euros. There is also an 'old lek' habit where people say a number ten times bigger than the real price.
Simple explanation
Albania's money is the lek. But rents, property and some tourist prices are given in euros. There is also an 'old lek' habit where people say a number ten times bigger than the real price.
The lek
The Albanian lek (ALL) is the legal currency, issued by the Bank of Albania. Notes and coins in circulation are denominated in the current lek.
The old lek trap
In 1965 Albania revalued the currency, dividing by ten. Many people, especially older people and in markets, still quote prices in the pre-1965 'old lek'. If a price sounds ten times too high, it probably is: 'two thousand' may mean 200 lek.
This is the single most common price confusion visitors run into. Confirming the figure rather than assuming is normal and nobody minds.
Euros
Rents, property sales, and some tourism and professional services are quoted and often paid in euros. Everyday shopping, transport and restaurants are in lek. Paying euro cash for a small purchase generally gets a poor rate.
Cards, cash and ATMs
Cards work in Tirana and the main coastal towns, and much less reliably inland, at small guesthouses and for furgons. ATMs are widespread; many charge a fee and offer their own conversion, which is usually worse than your own bank's.
Where prices are on this site
The Data section carries wage, inflation and price-level series with their observation dates and sources. This Atlas does not print undated price tables, because they are wrong within a year and there is no way for a reader to tell.
Connected subjects
These are real relationships in the Atlas — places that are near this one, and subjects it genuinely belongs with. Nothing here is a generic recommendation.
Related subjects
Guide
Banking and Money in Albania
A foreign-owned banking sector, a partly euroised economy, and a country where cash still matters.
Subject
Albania in Data
Population, GDP, inflation, wages, tourism, trade and energy — each with its observation period, its producer and a…
Sources
This page draws on the curated inventory only; no external source has been attached to it yet.
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