Montenegro, Macedonia and Turkey "give up" on Albania/ The flow of foreigners fades at the beginning of the year, the region deals the main blow
After the signal given by the general INSTAT data for the slowdown in the entry of foreign citizens into Albania, the statistics by country show more clearly where the decline is concentrated. In the period January-February 2026, 0.7% fewer entries were recorded at the country's border points, compared to the same period in 2025. Behind this slight contraction lies a more pronounced movement in some specific markets, especially from the region and some European countries.
The biggest hit in absolute terms was dealt by Montenegro, where arrivals fell by 13.8% in January-February, or around 15 thousand fewer than a year earlier. North Macedonia also recorded a decline of 6.4%, or over 6.2 thousand fewer arrivals, while Turkey had an even stronger contraction in relative terms, by 20.3%, yielding around 5.9 thousand fewer arrivals. These three countries alone account for the vast majority of the total decline recorded in the first two months of the year.
There was also a decline in several other European markets that are important inflows to Albania. France fell by 13.9%, Germany by 5.5% and the United Kingdom by 3.4%. In several other markets the contraction was even stronger, but on a smaller basis. The Czech Republic fell by 27.4%, China by 31.3%, Hungary by 34.5%, while Lithuania recorded the strongest relative decline, by 77.8%.
However, not all markets have moved in the same direction. The strongest growth in absolute terms came from Italy, with 14.8 thousand more arrivals than in January-February 2025, or 11.7% increase. Kosovo also provided an additional 10.8 thousand arrivals, with an increase of 2.5%, while Greece added around 2.6 thousand arrivals, or 2.8% more than a year earlier. There was also growth from Bulgaria, the United States, Spain and India. This shows that the decline has not been general, but has been concentrated in certain markets, while others have continued to maintain or expand their inflows.
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