Statistics: 41% of Albanians cannot afford to buy a car, a record in Europe

Although the number of cars on the country’s roads continues to grow, a large proportion of Albanians still say they cannot afford to buy a vehicle today.

According to data published by Eurostat, 41% of Albanians said in 2023 that they could not afford to buy a personal car. This figure is much higher than the European Union average, which stood at 5.6% in 2023 and 5.5% in 2025.

The figure is also the highest in the region. In 2023, 16% of Serbs said they could not afford to buy a vehicle. In 2025, the indicator fell slightly to 15%.

In North Macedonia, only 13% could not afford to buy a vehicle, according to data referring to 2024. In Montenegro, the percentage was even lower, at just 8.9% in 2024. Data for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are unavailable.

The highest percentage of Albanians who say they cannot afford to buy a car is among people who live alone, with 66% of men in this category and 88% of women.

Although the number of vehicles on the roads has increased significantly in recent years, with around 100,000 cars registered for the first time in each of 2024 and 2025, Albania remains one of the countries with the fewest vehicles in relation to its population.

According to additional data from the General Directorate of Road Transport Services (DPSHTRR), at the end of 2025 there were a total of 847,000 personal cars in circulation in the country.

In relation to the population, more than one in three residents owns a car, or 360 passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants. This figure is nearly half the European Union average of 578 cars per 1,000 inhabitants, according to other Eurostat data.

However, following the downward revision of the population, Albania has moved up from the bottom of the list and ranks third in the region, behind Montenegro (442) and approaching Serbia (394), while overtaking North Macedonia (338) and Bosnia (338).

In Europe, Kosovo (241) and Turkey (203) have fewer cars.

Italy holds the record, with 709 cars per 1,000 inhabitants, followed by Finland (671) and Cyprus (670).

Europe

According to Eurostat, in 2025, 5.5% of the European Union’s population could not afford a car for personal use. The highest percentage was recorded in Finland, at 11.3%, followed by Hungary at 10.4% and Bulgaria at 10.0%.

Meanwhile, the lowest levels were recorded in Cyprus (1.6%), Slovenia (1.7%) and Croatia (2.6%). The indicator measures the share of the population living in households that report lacking the financial means to own a car for personal use./Monitor