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2026-10-01 08:31:16Biznes SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Albania has the lowest density of road and rail infrastructure in the Western Balkans and is the only country in the region where the density of the road network has decreased over the last decade. The rail network has also shrunk, with the sharpest decline in the region, by over 28% compared to the period 2014-2016, according to the OECD's Economic Convergence Report for the Western Balkans 2026.

In terms of road infrastructure, Albania has only 13 kilometres of roads per 100 km² of territory, the lowest level among the six Western Balkan economies. At the other extreme is Montenegro with 74 km of roads per 100 km². The OECD notes that road density has remained broadly unchanged in the rest of the region, while Albania is the only economy to have recorded a decline during the period under review.

The situation is even worse in railways. Albania has only 0.9 km of railway line per 100 km², again the lowest level in the region. By comparison, Serbia, which leads the Western Balkans, reaches 4 km per 100 km². The OECD estimates that the density of the Albanian railway network has decreased by over 28% since 2014-2016, the steepest decline among countries in the region.

The weakness of the railway is not limited to the length of the network. The OECD ranks Albania, along with Kosovo, among the economies where rail freight transport remains marginal, with negligible volumes. This leaves the majority of freight transport dependent on the road network and limits the use of an alternative that in EU countries plays a greater role in trade and logistics.

Both indicators help explain why Infrastructure and Connectivity is the cluster where Albania ranks last in the Western Balkans. The OECD notes that, despite the region’s progress in some elements of infrastructure, the gap with neighboring EU countries remains large and Albania has the lowest score among Western Balkan economies.

The OECD considers transport infrastructure to be one of the main weaknesses in convergence with the EU. Albania's score in the "Infrastructure and Connectivity" cluster is only 33 points against the EU average of 100, ranking it 6th out of 6 economies in the region. Road density is estimated at only 7.6% of the EU level, while rail density is 16.1%.

However, the gap is not the same across infrastructure. Albania has practically reached the EU level in 4G coverage and has significantly improved electricity costs, but these advances have not compensated for the weakness of physical transport. The OECD summarizes this contrast by describing Albanian transport as underdeveloped, with marginal rail freight activity and the lowest broadband speeds in the region./ ekofin.al


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