Families in which the head of household had not completed any level of education recorded the highest increase in monthly consumer spending during 2025 compared with 2024, reflecting a faster expansion in spending than among families with higher levels of education.
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INSTAT data show that the monthly spending of families in which the head of household had not completed any level of education reached 66,112 lek in 2025, an increase of 3.28% compared with the previous year.
This was the highest rate among all categories and above the average increase of around 2.35% in household spending overall.
The faster increase in spending in this category may also be linked to changes in the labor market. The Albanian economy is showing high demand for workers in elementary occupations, particularly in the tourism and services sectors.
The expansion of these activities has increased demand for occupations such as cleaners, sales workers and other employees that do not necessarily require high levels of education.
Labor shortages and high demand in these occupations have caused wages in some lower-skilled categories to rise faster than in other, more highly qualified professions in recent years. This trend also continued in the first half of 2026.
For families with more limited incomes, rising income tends to be reflected more directly in consumption, as a larger share of their budget is used for everyday needs.
However, part of the increase in spending is also linked to price developments. Average inflation in Albania was 2.2% during 2025.
Thus, the nominal increase of 3.28% in spending by families with no completed education was only around one percentage point above the average increase in prices.
Families in which the head of household had completed eight- or nine-year education spent an average of 85,333 lek per month, just 0.4% more than in 2024. This was the lowest increase among the categories analyzed.
Among families with general or vocational secondary education, spending increased by 2.74%, from 96,790 lek to 99,442 lek per month.
Meanwhile, families in which the head of household had higher or postgraduate education continued to have the highest level of consumption, at 116,312 lek per month.
However, the rate of spending growth in this category was more moderate, at 2.13%.
Overall, an Albanian family spent an average of 95,227 lek per month during 2025, around 2.3% more than a year earlier, according to INSTAT’s Household Budget Survey.
The faster increase in spending among families with no completed education has not changed the large consumption gap between families based on the educational level of the head of household.
Families with a head of household who has higher education spend around 50,000 lek more per month than those in which the head of household has not completed any level of education.
Data for 2025 show a slight convergence in the rate of consumption growth, but differences in spending levels remain considerable.
Families with lower levels of education are increasing their spending more quickly, but they continue to consume significantly less than families with higher levels of education./Monitor
