Perhaps the best description of Albania today is provided by the World Bank, “Albania has transformed from one of the poorest countries in Europe to an upper-middle-income country. The country is implementing important reforms to revitalize growth and job creation, while advancing the European Union integration agenda.” The US State Department also refers to Albania as an “upper middle-income country” and highlights how “Albania offers large untapped potential for foreign investments across many sectors including energy, tourism, healthcare, agriculture, oil and mining, and information and communications technology (ICT)” In addition, US State Department highlights how the [Albanian banking] sector is sound, profitable, and well capitalized… and its total assets have steadily increased over the years reaching USD 17 billion at the end of 2021 mostly based on customer deposits.”

The words of the World Bank and US State Department are verified when one walks the streets of Tirana. From the wealthy to the poor, nearly all city residents enjoy a comfortable lifestyle. Poverty is not seen on the streets. Approximately 2/3 of households own a car, with well over 15% of those being luxury vehicles.  Even those with the smallest incomes enjoy sitting at cafes having coffee. (Albania overtook Spain during the pandemic as having the most cafes per capita.)