Municipal spending increased sharply during 2025, but most of the funds continued to be used for salaries and day-to-day operations, while only around one-fifth went towards investment. According to the “Local Government in Albania 2025” report by the Institute for Albanian Municipalities, the country’s 61 municipalities spent around 87.1 billion lek, approximately 13 billion lek more than in 2024, representing an increase of 17.6%.
Of the total 87.13 billion lek, capital expenditure amounted to 18.56 billion lek, or just 21.3%. Meanwhile, salaries and social insurance contributions accounted for 45.6% of expenditure, while operating expenses made up 25.3%. The report notes that local budgets remain dominated by current expenditure and that the scope for capital investment is relatively limited.
The increase in spending was also driven by higher personnel costs. Expenditure on salaries and social insurance contributions rose by 17.7%, which the report links to the wage policy implemented during 2023–2024 and an increase in the number of employees in local government.
At the end of 2025, municipalities had a total of 39,910 employees, 1,038 more than a year earlier. The number of employees increased in 45 of the 61 municipalities. Kamza recorded the largest increase, with 237 additional employees, followed by Fier with 153 and Shkodra with 65. By contrast, Tirana had 68 fewer employees, Cërrik 29 fewer, Puka 20 fewer and Vlora 16 fewer.
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