The favorite business of Albanians reaches 650 million euros/ The number of cafes increases again, a record in Europe

2024-04-22 07:16:00, Ekonomi CNA

The favorite business of Albanians reaches 650 million euros/ The number of

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The most favorite business of Albanians, since the beginning of the 90s, that of bars and restaurants, has picked itself up again in 2022, after the decline it suffered during the pandemic period.

The latest INSTAT data revealed that in 2022, the beverage and food service activity recorded revenues of 69 billion lek (about 650 million euros), with a strong increase of 47% compared to the previous year. These revenues are actually the expenses of local and foreign customers for bars and restaurants in the country.

This is the highest level of income ever recorded. The increase in prices in bars and restaurants is one of the reasons that has had an impact. According to INSTAT, in 2022, prices in bars and restaurants recorded the highest increase in 15 years, although at a slower pace the trend continued in 2023.

While the emigration of the population, especially young people, has affected the attendance of bars by locals, these have been compensated by tourists. INSTAT data showed that in 2022, over 7 million foreign nationals visited the country and in 2023, the figure reached 10 million.

Although the foreigners who come to Albania are generally with backpacks that consume little, they are still often found in bars and restaurants in the main tourist areas of the country and in the capital.

The number of bars increased for the first time since 2016

The business of bars and restaurants reached its peak in 2016, when their number reached almost 19 thousand. Then there was a continuous decline in line with the new cycle of immigration, which reduced their attendance, but also with the creation of larger lines of bars, which competed with small cafes. In 2021, the number of bars and restaurants fell to 14.7 thousand, the lowest level since 2013.

But, in 2022, an increase in the number of bars and restaurants was also noted for the first time since 2016. Their number increased by 4%, reaching 15.3 thousand, out of 113 thousand which is the total number of enterprises in the country.

Record in Europe

In general, bars and restaurants in European countries are concentrated in the alleys of tourist areas. In no other country in Europe can you find so many bars and restaurants in every neighborhood or street as here.

The high number of cafes that Albania has is also reflected in the comparison of the structure of businesses in Europe.

Eurostat data, processed by Monitor, show that on average only 4.8% of the total number of businesses engage in beverage and food service activities. The data are for the year 2022. In Albania, according to INSTAT, beverage and food service activities account for 13.5% of the total, which is the highest in Europe.

Bosnia-Herzegovina ranks after Albania, with 11.3%, followed by Switzerland with 8.9%, Greece 8.5%, Serbia 8.4%.

Spain and Italy, which are the two most touristic countries in Europe, have respectively 7.8 and 5.9% of businesses focused on beverage and food service activities.

The countries that pay less "attention" to the cafe business are Norway (2.2%), Poland (2.2%), Estonia (2.1%)./ Monitor Magazine