Money, Prices and the Lek

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.

A short history of the lek

Before the 1920s Albania had no money of its own. Ottoman piastres circulated alongside Austrian, Italian and Greek coins, and foreign gold coins served for large payments. The National Bank of Albania was founded in 1925, with Italian capital, under Ahmet Zogu's government, and the lek followed in 1926, named after Alexander the Great (Leka i Madh), with a gold franc (frang ar) for larger sums.

Occupation brought the Italian lira and then wartime notes, and after 1944 the communist state issued its own lek through a state bank that was the country's only bank. The revaluation of 1965, which divided prices by ten, is the origin of the 'old lek' habit described below.

The 1990s were hard on the currency and on savers. The end of central planning brought steep inflation in the early 1990s, the Bank of Albania was refounded as an independent central bank in 1992, and the collapse of the pyramid schemes in 1997 wiped out the savings of a large share of families. The lek has been comparatively stable since, while the euro, carried home by emigrants, became the second currency of rents and property.

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.