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Where will concrete Tirana go?!/ In January-June, 5-fold increase in construction permits were issued, a record worth 1.6 billion euros

2026-08-13 11:03:00 / EKONOMI&SOCIALE ALFA PRESS

If you think Tirana and the coast are overloaded with construction, you haven't seen anything yet. Official data published by the Ministry of Finance shows that revenues collected from the infrastructure impact tax for new construction have marked a record increase in the first 6 months of the year, significantly surpassing even 2024, which until now was the year with the most permits.

In total, for the first 6 months of 2026, 18.3 billion lek were collected from the 'infrastructure impact tax from new construction' across the country, or three times more than the same period a year ago (+200%).

Even compared to 2024, which until now held the record of the last decade for revenues from this tax for the highest area of ​​permits issued, revenues have more than doubled (+120%).

The revenues collected for the first 6 months are equal to the amount collected in the entire year 2024 (18.6 billion lek) and 15% more than the collections for the entire year 2025.

For comparison, in the entire year 2024, according to official INSTAT data, permits were issued for about 2 million square meters of construction area.

Tirana holds record, 68% of revenues

The Albanian capital has been the epicenter of the construction boom of the last decade. While it seems that there is no more room left to build, the pace is expected to accelerate in the coming years.

Official data shows that about 68% of revenues in the first 6 months of 2026 came from the Municipality of Tirana, or 12.5 billion lek, which is almost the same amount collected for the entire year 2025 and 362% more than the same period in 2025, or almost 5 times more (in the first 6 months of 2025, 2.7 billion lek were collected).

Considering that the infrastructure tax in Tirana is 8% of the sales price per square meter, above market reference prices, the area given for construction corresponds to a construction value of 156 billion lek, or 1.6 billion euros.

The last change in the reference prices for apartments in the Municipality of Tirana was made in July 2023, with Council of Ministers No. 457, dated 26.07.2023. The new prices entered into force at the end of July 2023 and apply to the 32 cadastral zones of Tirana, which means that the increase in income is entirely due to the increase in the area granted for construction permits.

For comparison, in 2025, according to data from gross fixed capital formation, investments in housing across the country were 222 billion lek and in other buildings and structures 260 billion lek. In the first 6 months alone, permits in Tirana accounted for 70% of all housing investments in the country in 2025.

Himara and Saranda will face a new wave of construction

Not only Tirana, but also the coast will have another wave of construction, especially the south. Himara holds the record. The revenues collected by this municipality were 1.2 billion lek, or 301% more than the first 6 months of 2025.

Third in value is Durrës, with 841 million euros, an increase of 58%.

Saranda has collected 478 million lek, or almost 7 times more than the same period in 2025.

While it seems like there is no more room to build in Golem, infrastructure tax revenues increased by 37%.

Statistical silence on building permits

Since the beginning of 2025, the publication of statistics on construction permits is currently based only on data provided by municipalities, which are the main authorities for issuing and reporting these permits. However, the Council of Ministers No. 408, dated 13.5.2015 “On the approval of the territorial development regulation”, as amended*, stipulates that the process of approving construction permits also includes other responsible institutions, in addition to municipalities.

Since there is still no standardized and complete reporting from all these entities to INSTAT, the published data is based only on municipal sources.

In the absence of updated data from INSTAT on the area of ​​construction permits, which has been reporting for almost a year only local government and not permits from the National Council for Territory and Water (KKTU), revenues from the infrastructure impact tax are the most accurate indicator of the expected scale of construction in the country.

In recent months, the National Council of Territory and Water has reviewed several hundred requests for construction and development permits, including tourism, residential, public infrastructure, energy and transport projects. These permits are not reported in official statistics, creating a lack of transparency about what is expected to actually happen to one of the most dynamic sectors of the economy, which in recent years has served as a conduit for informal money, as clearly resulted from SPAK investigations. The lack of transparency does not allow for an analysis of the sector, which in recent years has faced a paradox where prices increased significantly along with supply and official demand did not justify this trend. Furthermore, the banking sector's exposure has increased significantly, with the stock of real estate loans accounting for around 52% of the total./ O. Liperi, Monitor

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