The increase in fuel prices since the beginning of March, following the escalation of conflicts in the Middle East, has eroded the income of vehicle users, public transport operators and, with a knock-on effect, everyone else who has had increased transportation costs.
Today, a liter of diesel costs 219 lek and gasoline 205 lek, up from 175 lek until March.
The budget that has gained the most is the one that has collected the most revenue from the increase in the price of oil, through the 20% value added tax, which is charged to the consumer and added to the final retail price.
According to data from the Customs Directorate, processed by Monitor, from March, when the price increase began, until July, the budget has collected from the import of oil and gasoline, through customs duty, excise duty and VAT, about 20.2 billion lek, with an increase of 9.1% compared to the same period a year ago, or almost 1.7 billion lek more (about 18 million euros).
For the same period, imports were 387 million liters, or 0.6% less than the same period a year ago, an indication that the increase in revenues is entirely the effect of higher prices. Nearly 80% of imports are from oil and the rest gasoline.
In the first two months of the year, a liter of diesel was cleared at around 50 lek per liter. The price jumped in March to 81.4 lek and peaked in April at 99 lek.
After a temporary drop in April, July brought another price increase to 83 lek. The entire price difference was passed on in higher value-added tax revenues. Gasoline also rose to 74 lek per liter in May, up from 45 lek in February. (See charts: Price per liter of imported diesel and gasoline).
Although it has collected around 18 million euros more in revenue from the increase in oil prices alone, the Albanian government, which taxes oil more than any other country in the Balkans, has not returned a portion of it to citizens through fiscal incentives, unlike other countries in the region.
Due to the high fiscal burden, oil in Albania costs 41% more than in North Macedonia, which is the cheapest in the region, and 17% more than in Serbia, the second most expensive in the region after us. Oil in Albania is 30% more expensive than the regional average of 1.77 lek per liter, according to "Monitor" calculations.
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If a simple structure for calculating the price of oil is applied to all countries in the region (base price + excise tax and VAT is calculated on this amount), in Albania, in addition to the excise tax of 0.37 euros per liter and the 20% VAT, two additional taxes are applied to the price of oil, the circulation tax (27 lek per liter) and the carbon tax (3 lek per liter).
This makes the fiscal structure in Albania significantly more burdensome, constituting about 50% of the price or 100 lek per liter.
Unlike other countries in the region, which have implemented numerous fiscal incentives, the Albanian government's interventions have been minimal.
In March, a decision was adopted to reduce the excise tax on fuel by 20% if the price of diesel exceeded 220 lek per liter at retail, and for gasoline, the measure would be applied if the price exceeded 200 lek per liter. According to official sources , the measure was used twice and the financial effect was estimated at 37 million lek or about 400 thousand euros.
March-July, Albanians spent 80 million euros more to buy oil, for the same consumption
Unlike the government, which has collected more revenue, consumers have had a heavy financial burden for fuel costs.
Import data for the period March-July 2026 show that in five months, about 305.8 thousand tons of fuel were imported, only 1.2% less than in the same period last year, when the quantity was about 309.6 thousand tons.
"Monitor" has previously calculated that, assuming that imported fuels have been consumed in the domestic market, about 71.3 billion lek were spent on imported quantities from March to July, based on the average monthly price of oil in the domestic market.
For the same amount of fuel, if the price had remained at last year's average level of around 175 lek per liter, the bill would have been around 63.7 billion lek.
The difference amounts to about 7.6 billion lek, or approximately 80 million euros more, paid solely as a result of the higher fuel price. Almost a quarter of this amount has gone to the state budget, through increased VAT payments.
March-July, Albanians spent 80 million euros more to buy oil, for the same consumption
