By the end of 2019, there were a total of 162,342 active business enterprises in Albania, with little increase from 2018. In addition to this, there were 44,473 farmers registered with the tax authorities.
The most popular business type is trade, accounting for 23% of all economic activity.
Small businesses were the most common as only 1.2% of active enterprises had 50 or more staff. Those businesses contributed the most to the economy, employing 48.1% of the workforce in the country.
The lowest number of businesses was found in Pustec and the highest, not surprisingly, was the capital of Tirana.
Women business owners accounted for less than a quarter of all enterprises, dropping 0.3 percentage points from the previous year. In Tirana however, 32.4% of all businesses are owned by women. They tend to be micro-enterprises with 1-4 staff members. Just 20% of big enterprises with more than 50 staff are owned by women.
Only 4% of businesses in Albania are owned by foreigners or by a mixture of Albanian and foreign citizens. While still low, the percentage has increased from 2018 where it was 3.8%. Foreign-owned companies employ 11.9% of the workforce in the country.
In terms of joint enterprises, EU partners represent over 65% of all cases. The most common countries for partners are Italy and Greece which account for more than half of all foreign and joint enterprises.
The main industries in Albania in terms of economic activity are agriculture, trade, accommodation and hospitality, and industry.
Unfortunately, some 4300 small businesses closed their doors in 2019. This number is expected to increase exponentially in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic issues.
