Businesses shift investments from buildings and land to technology

2026-04-23 07:17:40, Ekonomi CNA

Economic information on enterprises shows a noticeable shift in business investments from real estate to technology and machinery.

Official INSTAT data show that in 2024, businesses significantly reduced investments in buildings by about 30.9% compared to 2023. Of the approximately 23.8 billion lek that was the value of these investments in 2023, they were only 16.4 billion lek in 2024.

Investments in land also decreased by about 24%, marking a value of only 12.7 billion lek in 2024 from 16.7 billion lek in 2023. At the same time, investments in construction and installations have also decreased by 46% as they are related to buildings.

Data shows that businesses have channeled investments into machinery and equipment. Investments in this item reached over 80 billion lek in 2024, an increase of 61% compared to 2023. This shift in business investments indicates a positive turn that heralds increased productivity.

Also, investments in transportation vehicles have experienced a strong increase of 34%, reaching a value of 22.1 billion lek in 2024. This increase is directly related to the need for logistics, driven by the increase in tourism flows or demand for services and goods.

Albania is facing a major demographic challenge and labor migration. To maintain the same level of production or to grow, businesses can no longer rely on the number of employees. The massive 61% increase in machinery shows that entrepreneurs are investing in technology that replaces manual processes with automated ones, increasing efficiency without the need for additional personnel.

Businesses are realizing that investing in machinery and technology has a faster return on investment and makes them less risky choices. Albanian businesses are realizing that they can no longer compete with low labor costs, but with product quality guaranteed by technology.

On the other hand, the economy is moving towards rapid distribution and online commerce, causing businesses to invest in transportation fleets to control the supply chain, reducing dependence on third parties./Monitor