Only 8.6% of individuals in Albania had purchased tickets online for concerts, festivals or other events during the three months preceding the 2025 survey, according to Eurostat data.
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This percentage is far below the European Union average, where 26.8% of citizens had purchased tickets online. In the EU, more than one in four people use the internet to obtain event tickets, while in Albania fewer than one in 11 do so.
Eurostat reports that, compared with 2024, the share of EU citizens who purchased tickets online increased by 3.8 percentage points, driven by the expansion of digital platforms and the return of concerts and festivals to the European cultural calendar.
Albania Behind Serbia and North Macedonia
Internet use for purchasing tickets remains limited throughout the Western Balkans.
Serbia had the highest percentage in the region, with 11.4% of individuals having purchased event tickets online, followed by North Macedonia at 10.8%.
Albania ranked next at 8.6%, ahead of Bosnia and Herzegovina at 7.4%, Kosovo at 7.35% and Montenegro at 6%.
Turkey also recorded a lower rate than Albania, at 6.2%.
The gap is also evident when compared with neighboring EU countries. In Greece, 38.9% of individuals had purchased tickets online, more than four times the rate in Albania.
The percentage was 28.3% in Croatia, 20.9% in Slovenia and 11.4% in Bulgaria. Despite its much larger market for concerts and cultural activities, Italy had a relatively low rate by EU standards, at 14.2%.
Ireland and Norway Lead the Ranking
Among the European countries for which data are available, Ireland had the highest percentage, with 51.5% of individuals having purchased tickets online.
It was followed by Norway at 50.3%, the Netherlands at 48.1% and Denmark at 47.9%. The percentage was 44.2% in Finland, 42.2% in Switzerland and 38.9% in Greece.
In these countries, online purchasing has become the main way to obtain tickets for concerts, festivals, performances and other activities.
Within the European Union, the lowest rates were recorded in Bulgaria at 11.4%, Romania at 12.6% and Italy at 14.2%.
Kanye West Concert Exposed the Limits of Domestic Demand
The limited use of online ticketing platforms was also reflected in ticket sales for singer Kanye West’s concert in Tirana. He is one of the world’s biggest artists and ranks as the 10th most-streamed artist on Spotify.
The event was planned for a large audience of 60,000 people, including tourists, but sales proceeded more slowly than forecast.
Organizers had stated that at least 40,000 tickets needed to be sold for the concert to be financially viable, while a considerable number of seats remained available just days before it was due to take place.
One of the obstacles was the price of the tickets, which ranged from 120 to 330 euros, high levels relative to the purchasing power of the domestic audience.
Interest from foreign tourists was also weaker than initially expected, as Albania is not known as a country that hosts events of this scale.
In the final days before the concert, the government allocated around 4.2 million euros to organize the event, citing tourism promotion. The funding was provided at a time when sales had not reached the level organizers said was necessary for financial viability, and was presented by the government as an effort to save the concert and, along with it, the country’s image.
The case highlighted the difficulty of organizing major events based solely on domestic demand in a market where purchasing power is low and internet use for buying tickets is among the most limited in Europe./MONITOR
