One salary is not enough: an individual’s expenses equal 112% of wages, the second highest in Europe

An Albanian individual living in the capital and earning the official average monthly net salary of 760 euros would need to spend around 853 euros a month if living alone, meaning this income is not enough to maintain a normal standard of living and they would have to give up some non-essential expenses to make it to the end of the month.

The data were revealed in a recent report by Tradingpedia, which calculates that the ratio of expenses as a percentage of salary for a single person living in Tirana is 112.2%.

This is the second-highest level in Europe, behind only Lisbon, Portugal, where the indicator stands at 121.4%.

Tirana and Lisbon are the only cities in Europe where the average monthly salary is not enough for an individual to get through the month, taking into account spending on food, housing, transport, personal care and entertainment.

To determine which capitals offer the best standard of living with the lowest financial burden relative to monthly income, Tradingpedia compared data from 37 European capitals, taking into account daily expenses and average monthly net salaries (“real” pay after all taxes and deductions are subtracted from gross salary). The information for Albania was processed by Monitor.

In Albania, the average monthly net salary is 760 euros, while the report estimates that a single individual needs 852 euros to live normally.

The biggest expense is rent, which absorbs 93% of income, leaving the individual with only 50 euros from their salary, meaning they would have to borrow money, choose to keep living with their parents, or share rent with someone else.

Earlier, Monitor reported that the average rent for apartments in Tirana for 2026 had reached 721 euros per month, according to data from real estate agencies.

According to the international coefficient used to assess housing affordability, rent is considered affordable when it does not exceed 30% of a household’s or individual’s gross monthly income.

When rent exceeds 30% of monthly income, it is considered unaffordable and signals housing-related financial stress for a household. If it rises above 50%, this condition is called an extreme “housing cost burden,” which increases the risk of housing insecurity.

According to calculations based on the international coefficient formula, an individual must spend 77% of their gross income, or 720 euros, to cover rent expenses.

If the average net salary of around 72,000 lekë (740 euros) is taken into account, rent expenses reach around 97% of monthly net income, making housing practically unaffordable for an average individual.

In both cases, the indicators remain significantly above the 30% threshold considered the affordability limit for housing costs.

Cost of living for an individual, the highest in the region

According to the Tradingpedia report, in Serbia monthly expenses for a single individual are 994 euros, but with the higher net salary of 1,084 euros, the indicator is 91.7%.

In North Macedonia, with a monthly net salary similar to Albania’s at 769 euros, an individual needs 702 euros to maintain a normal standard of living, or 91.3% of income.

In Podgorica, 759 euros are enough, while the average monthly net salary is 1,013 euros.

The lowest cost of living in the region is in Bosnia and Herzegovina, at 584 euros, for a salary of 883 euros, or 66.2%.

In Tirana, the cost of living for an individual is relatively higher even than in London, where 86% of income is needed, or in Rome (93.5%).

The cheapest city is Brussels, where half of one’s income is enough for an individual to live normally.

Tradingpedia has also calculated the cost of living for an average family of four, with two adults working for average wages.

According to this indicator, the family’s income is 1,520 euros per month, assuming that two adults are working and earning average salaries. Expenses for a family of four are estimated at 1,353 euros per month, requiring nearly 90% of income to be spent. The cost of living falls/Monitor