Story details

Albania’s Ministry of Finance published a preliminary summary of consolidated revenue and expenditure on 23 October. Its title and most of the detailed figures cover January through September 2026. The release says total revenue reached about ALL 626.6 billion, equivalent to 100.3% of the nine-month plan and 76.1% of the annual revenue target. The ministry compared the total with the same period a year earlier and reported an increase of about ALL 63.7 billion, or 11.3%. These are preliminary fiscal execution figures: they describe cash collected and expenditure recorded against budget plans, not a final audited outturn or an estimate of economic growth.

The release has a wording inconsistency that should be kept visible. Its title, opening label, and most line items refer to January–September, but the first sentence says the preliminary indicators refer to January–August; a sentence describing total public spending also says January–August. The detailed spending paragraph later identifies the nine-month period, and the figures are presented in the January–September summary. The ministry does not explain the inconsistency in the publication. This report therefore treats the reported totals as nine-month figures in line with the document title and detailed breakdown, while recording the text error instead of silently correcting or inventing an explanation.

Tax and customs receipts were reported at ALL 401.9 billion, ALL 677 million or 0.2% above the period plan and 7.9% higher than a year earlier. Revenue collected by the tax administration—including domestic net VAT, profit tax, personal income tax and national taxes—was ALL 215.6 billion, up 11.3% year on year and 1.8% above its nine-month plan. Net domestic VAT receipts were ALL 65 billion, 29% higher than in the comparable 2025 period and equal to 110% of the nine-month plan; the ministry also reported ALL 11.3 billion in VAT refunds. Personal income-tax receipts were ALL 73 billion, up 15.5%, while profit-tax receipts reached ALL 42.3 billion, or 95.7% of plan.

The ministry’s special-fund revenue category, covering social and health insurance contributions collected by tax administration and the two social-insurance bodies, reached ALL 150.9 billion. It was 13.5% above the same period in 2025 and 100.5% of plan. Customs administration collected ALL 186.3 billion, including import VAT, excise, customs duties and mining royalties; that total was 4.3% higher year on year and 98.3% of plan. Import VAT was ALL 122.6 billion, up 4%; excise receipts were ALL 54.5 billion, up 4.2%. Export mining royalties were ALL 1.5 billion, 1.5% higher than a year earlier and 110.7% of plan. Customs-duty revenue was ALL 7.7 billion, up 9.3%. The royalty line is the release’s most direct mining-sector figure, but it measures public receipts, not mineral output, export volumes or company profitability.

Total public expenditure was about ALL 556.3 billion, 92.8% of the period plan and 7.5% above the comparable 2025 period. Capital spending was ALL 62.8 billion, or 75.2% of plan, up 5.3% year on year. Current spending reached ALL 493.5 billion, 95.7% of plan and 7.8% above a year earlier; the ministry said special funds accounted for 42.8% of current expenditure. The gaps between actual execution and plan do not by themselves establish why a line is above or below plan, nor whether appropriations will be spent later. The release is an interim budget snapshot; final accounts, subsequent revisions, inflation adjustments and explanations of programme-level delivery are outside the figures presented.