Albania is the country where construction accounts for the highest share of the economy in Europe, but the apartment boom has not solved the problem of housing conditions. In 2023, 12.7% of the population lived in severe housing deprivation, the third highest rate among European countries included in Eurostat data, after Turkey with 19.7% and Montenegro with 14.6%. The European Union average was just 4%.
The contrast with the pace of construction is stark. In 2025, the construction sector accounted for 12.6% of Albania’s Gross Domestic Product, compared to 5% in the European Union. Its share in the Albanian economy was about 2.5 times higher than the EU average and greater than in any other European country included in Eurostat data.
Albania, the champion in "mortar and bricks" in Europe, builds 2.5 times more than the EU average
The large supply of new properties is confronted, on the other hand, with the weak purchasing power of families. Housing affordability is particularly problematic in Tirana.
According to Numbeo's property market rankings, the Albanian capital is the fourth least affordable among European capitals for buying a home, after Moscow, Lisbon and Prague. The ratio between property prices and income in Tirana is around 16.9, which puts the city ahead of capitals such as Belgrade and Paris in this indicator.
The price-to-income ratio compares the value of property to the disposable income of households. For this reason, a city may have cheaper apartments in euros than a wealthy European capital, but be much more expensive for its residents.
What is severe housing deprivation?
Eurostat classifies a person as severely deprived of housing when they live in overcrowded housing and, at the same time, face at least one serious housing problem.
Problems include a leaking roof, the lack of a bathroom or shower and toilet inside the house, or a dwelling with insufficient natural light. The data comes from the EU-SILC European survey on income and living conditions.
The indicator measures how many people live in housing with inadequate space and conditions. This distinction is important in the case of Albania, where new construction has increased at a rapid pace, while part of the existing stock continues to have problems and purchasing a new property remains difficult for families with middle or low incomes.
Eurostat measures severe housing deprivation as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (the results of which were recently published), particularly Goal 11 on sustainable cities and communities.
The indicator assesses whether households live in adequate housing and helps measure inequalities in living conditions.
According to Eurostat, inadequate housing is associated with health inequalities, more limited life opportunities and greater exposure to poverty.
Montenegro worse than Albania, Serbia and North Macedonia below
In the Western Balkans, the most problematic situation is in Montenegro, where 14.6% of the population was in severe housing deprivation in 2023. Albania ranks immediately behind with 12.7%.
In Serbia, the rate was 7.4%, while in North Macedonia it was 7.1%. For Kosovo, the Eurostat table does not provide data for 2023.
In the EU, differences between countries remain large
Within the European Union, severe housing deprivation has gradually decreased, from 6.1% of the population in 2010 to 4.3% in 2018 and 4% in 2023. Eurostat considers this a significant improvement in housing quality, although problems remain concentrated in a few countries and among low-income households.
In 2023, among EU countries, Latvia had the highest level of severe housing deprivation, at around 9.4%, followed by Romania with 6.8%, Greece with 6%, Bulgaria with 5.9% and Portugal with 5.8%.
At the other extreme, the rate was only around 0.5% in Ireland, 0.8% in Finland, 0.9% in Cyprus, 1% in the Netherlands and 1.1% in Belgium. For many countries, Eurostat clarifies that the 2023 data are estimates.
