The increase in fuel prices since the beginning of March, after the escalation of conflicts in the Middle East, has eroded the incomes of vehicle users, public transport operators, and with a chain effect, all others who have faced higher transportation costs.
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Today, a liter of diesel costs 219 lekë and gasoline 205 lekë, from 175 which were the prices until March.
The biggest winner appears to be the budget, which has collected more revenues from the diesel price hike, through the 20% value added tax, which is charged to the consumer being added to the final retail price.
According to data from the Customs Directorate, processed by Monitor, from March, when the price increase started, until July, the budget has collected from the import of diesel and gasoline, through customs tax, excise, and VAT, about 20.2 billion lekë, an increase of 9.1% compared to the same period a year earlier, or nearly 1.7 billion lekë more (about 18 million euros).
For the same period, imports were 387 million liters, or 0.6% less than the same period a year earlier, an indication that the revenue increase is entirely the effect of the price hike. Almost 80% of imports are diesel and the rest gasoline.
In the first two months of the year, a liter of diesel was customs cleared at about 50 lekë per liter. The price jumped in March to 81.4 lekë and peaked in April at 99 lekë.
After a temporary decline in April, July brought another increase to 83 lekë. The entire price difference was transmitted into more revenue from value added tax.
Gasoline also rose to 74 lekë per liter in May, from 45 lekë in February. (see charts: Value per liter of imported diesel and gasoline).
Although it has collected about 18 million euros more in revenues just from the diesel price hike, the Albanian government, which taxes diesel more than any other country in the Balkans, has not returned a portion back to citizens through fiscal relief, unlike other countries in the region.
Due to the high fiscal burden, diesel in Albania is 41% more expensive 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.
Diesel in Albania is 30% more expensive than the regional average of 1.77 lekë per liter, according to Monitor’s calculations.
If for all regional countries a simple structure for calculating the diesel price is applied (base price + excise and on this amount VAT is calculated), in Albania, besides the excise of 0.37 euros per liter and 20% VAT, two additional taxes are applied on the diesel price, the circulation tax (27 lekë per liter) and the carbon tax (3 lekë per liter).
This makes the fiscal structure in Albania significantly heavier, accounting for about 50% of the price or 100 lekë per liter.
Unlike other regional countries, which have implemented numerous fiscal relieves, the interventions of the Albanian government have been minimal.
In March, a decision was approved to reduce the excise on fuels by 20% if the diesel price exceeded the value of 220 lekë per liter at retail, and for gasoline the measure applies if the price exceeds 200 lekë per liter.
According to official sources, the measure has been used twice and the financial effect was estimated at 37 million lekë or about 400 thousand euros.
March-July, Albanians spent 80 million euros more on diesel, for the same consumption
Unlike the government, which has collected more revenues, consumers have faced a heavy financial burden for fuel expenses.
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 the same period last year, when the amount was about 309.6 thousand tons.
Monitor has calculated earlier that, assuming the imported fuels have been consumed in the domestic market, for the quantities imported from March to July, about 71.3 billion lekë were spent, based on the average monthly diesel price in the domestic market.
For the same amount of fuel, if the price had remained at last year’s average level of about 175 lekë per liter, the bill would have been about 63.7 billion lekë.
The difference reaches about 7.6 billion lekë, or approximately 80 million euros more, paid solely due to the higher fuel price. Almost a quarter of this amount has gone to the state budget, through increased VAT payments./Monitor
