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74 thousand cars entered circulation in January-September, electric vehicles double
2026-10-07 10:20:00 / EKONOMI&SOCIALE
Although growth rates are slowing compared to the previous two years, the boom in vehicles circulating in the country is continuing to increase during the first 8 months of 2026.
According to data published by the General Directorate of Road Transport, for the period January-September, 74.1 thousand vehicles entered circulation for the first time, almost at the same levels as the 9-month period a year ago.
In September, 7,639 vehicles were registered for the first time. Unlike July, when the number of vehicles fell by 10% on an annual basis, in August the trend was upward, although very slightly by 1%.
Vehicle imports slowed after March, as a result of transportation difficulties that arose after the conflict in the Strait of Hormuz, which increased the cost of vehicles coming from Asia, even though they did not pass directly through this strait.
South Korea and China continue to be the main markets from which Albanians have preferred to purchase vehicles in the last two years.
For the first nine months, about 19.5 thousand vehicles, or about 26% of first-time registrations, originated in South Korea. For the past three years, South Korea has been dominating, due to cheaper purchase prices from the distant country.
China is growing rapidly, driven by interest in electric cars. About 16% of the vehicles registered for the first time in January-September, or 11.8 thousand vehicles, originated in China.
Germany and Italy, the two former dominant countries, have moved into third and fourth place, respectively with 8.9 and 8.6 thousand vehicles for the first nine months.
Interest in electric vehicles is growing again, after a slowdown with the onset of the Middle East crisis, which hindered their transport from China, the main destination. In September, 716 such vehicles were registered for the first time, the highest level since June.
A total of 7,796 electric vehicles were registered for the first eight months, or twice as many as in the same period in 2025.
Electric vehicles accounted for 10.5% of first-time vehicle registrations for the January-September period.
The BYD brand ranks first for electric vehicles being registered for the first time in the country, with nearly 5,000 vehicles for the period January-September, or 64% of the total number of cars that use electricity as fuel.
By brand type, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz continue to remain the two historically most preferred brands by Albanian buyers, with around 17% and 15% of registrations in the period January-September 2026.
In total, the number of vehicles circulating in the country reached around 1.1 million at the end of September. /Monitor
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