Austria led foreign investments in Albania for the first quarter of the year

2026-06-25 22:34:35, Ekonomi CNA

Austria was the leading foreign investor in Albania in the first quarter of 2019. According to data from the Bank of Albania, Austrian investments reached a value of 60 million euros, almost twice as much compared to the first quarter of last year.

Austrian investments in Albania are concentrated especially in the insurance market, the energy sector, hotel services and the construction sector. Although no major investments by Austrian businesses have been reported this year, it can be hypothesized that the increase in Austrian investments may be related to the real estate sector, which is taking an increasingly dominant role in the structure of foreign direct investments in Albania.

The stock of Austrian investments at the end of the first quarter reached 992 million euros, up 11% compared to the same period a year earlier.

A historically important investor in Albania, Italy, ranked second for the first quarter of this year, with a new investment flow of 49 million euros. The flow of Italian investment marked an increase of 9% compared to the first quarter of last year.

Italy remains one of the largest foreign investors in Albania. The stock of Italian investments has reached 1.92 billion euros, 16% more compared to the same period a year ago. Italian investments are distributed from a sectoral perspective, but are especially oriented towards service activities. Meanwhile, according to market reports, Italian citizens also occupy an important share in real estate investments.

With a small difference from Italy, foreign investments from the Netherlands and Turkey follow.

The country that has dominated foreign direct investment in recent years, the Netherlands, dropped to third place in terms of the value of new investments in the first quarter of 2026, with 48 million euros. The value of Dutch investments fell by 2% compared to the first quarter of last year.

However, in terms of the accumulated stock of investments to date, the Netherlands remains the largest foreign investor in Albania, with a value of 2.83 billion euros and an annual growth of 12%.

Genuine Dutch investors in Albania have been few. The most important among them was the Shell company, which made major investments in oil exploration in the Shpirag area, before withdrawing at the end of 2024.

The high value of Dutch investments is mainly related to the fact that the Netherlands is one of the preferred countries in Europe for registering holding companies , in order to control the international investments of various business groups. The Netherlands is preferred for registering offshore companies , because the legislation there guarantees a high degree of confidentiality regarding the ownership of shares. The Netherlands is also a preferred jurisdiction for registering holding companies, because it has an extensive network of agreements with other countries in the world for the avoidance of double taxation.

The list of foreign investors for the first quarter continues with Turkey.

For the first quarter of 2026, Turkish investments reached the value of 47 million euros, down 6% compared to the same period a year earlier.

Turkish investment stock at the end of the first quarter reached 1.47 billion euros, up 15% compared to a year earlier. After leaving the telecommunications sector, Turkish companies continue to play an important role in the financial sector, energy, mining, etc.

Kosovo continues to increase investments in Albania and for the first quarter new investment flows reached the value of 32 million euros, with an increase of 22% compared to the previous year. Kosovar investments in recent years are following an increasing trend and are mainly oriented in the trade sector. The stock of Kosovar investments has reached 620 million euros, an increase of 41% compared to the previous year./Monitor