More than triple the EU average, Albania and Kosovo have the highest energy losses in the Western Balkans

Nearly a fifth of the energy entering Albania’s electricity grid does not reach the final consumer, ranking Albania among the countries with the highest energy losses in the Western Balkans.

In the 2023-2024 period, losses reached 19.4% of the energy injected into the grid, more than triple the European Union average of 6%.

At the same time, the cost of electricity for Albanian businesses has moved significantly closer to the EU level, creating a contrast between the network’s poor efficiency and relatively competitive prices for non-household consumers.

The data are part of the OECD’s 2026 Economic Convergence Report for the Western Balkans, which analyzes, among other things, the efficiency of energy infrastructure and energy costs for businesses.

In the Western Balkans, average network energy losses were 15.2% in 2023-2024, or about 2.5 times higher than the EU average and significantly above the 9.2% level of neighboring EU countries used by the OECD for comparison.

Albania, at 19.4%, stands well above the regional average. Only Kosovo has higher losses, at 21.9%, while Bosnia and Herzegovina records the lowest level in the region, 10.4%.

The OECD measures the indicator as the share of energy injected into transmission and distribution networks that does not reach end users.

The losses reflect both technical problems, related to aging infrastructure, and non-technical losses, where outdated metering systems also play a role.

Albania has nevertheless made progress compared with a decade ago. Together with Kosovo, it is among the few countries in the region where losses declined during the analyzed period.

But the improvement has not been enough to change the country’s position: Albania and Kosovo continue to have the highest levels of losses in the Western Balkans.

Meanwhile, in the region’s other economies losses have increased, while the Western Balkans average has remained practically unchanged compared with 2014-2016.

In Albania’s profile, the OECD assesses relative performance on energy losses at 28.4 points against the EU average of 100 in 2023-2024, up from 23 points in 2014-2016. So there is improvement, but the gap with the European standard remains large.