Construction, how many permits were given in the last three years? Which counties lead?

During the last three years in Albania, a total of 4436 construction permits for new buildings have been approved. Referring to data from the Institute of Statistics, the number of construction permits has increased by 14.5% since 2021, while the area of ??approved permits for new buildings has decreased during the past year.

In 2023 alone, a total of 1,602 construction permits were approved, an increase of 12.8% from the 1,420 construction permits issued the previous year. Meanwhile, the area of ??approved permits for new buildings is 2,115,819 m2, marking a decrease of 20.7% compared to 2022. The figures show more construction permits issued, but mainly for smaller areas.

The requirement for building permits for residence dominates compared to the requirements for other non-residential buildings or engineering works such as railways, roads, highways, bridges, water lines, electricity or telecommunication lines. As for the distribution of construction permits in the districts, in the last quarter of last year most of them were concentrated in Tirana, Durrës and Elbasan.

With the increase in the number of tourists, the need for increasing the capacity of accommodation structures has also increased, where in the period 2021-2023 it is observed that around 143 hotels or buildings similar to the latter have been built. In the coastal cities of Durres, Lezha and Vlora, since 2021, around 1,874 construction permits for new buildings have been approved. Specifically, 1299 permits were granted only in Durrës, 361 permits in Lezhë and 214 in Vlora. The pace of construction in Lezhë has been decreasing, while in Durrës and Vlora there have been increasing trends.

At the last meeting of the Consultative Council between the Central Government and Local Self-Government, it was proposed to facilitate the procedures for granting construction permits in rural areas, both for private residences and for businesses, with the aim of developing infrastructure in the field of agritourism. Albania is preparing to host a large influx of tourists this year, so it is essential that accommodation facilities respond to the high demand of foreign visitors.