Lending increases, stronger "boom" in tourism and property/ Businesses receive 149 billion lek in new loans in the first half of the year
New lending to businesses continued to grow in the first half of the year, supported mainly by trade, accommodation and food services, energy and real estate activities.
According to data from the Bank of Albania, during the period January-June 2026, banks granted 148.7 billion lek in new loans to private non-financial corporations, up from 132.2 billion lek in the same period last year. This translates into an annual increase of 12.5%, or about 16.5 billion lek more new loans.
Trade continues to receive the largest share of bank financing. Wholesale and retail businesses received about 58.9 billion lek in new loans in six months, 16.5% more than a year ago. This sector alone represents about 40% of all new loans to businesses.
In second place is the processing industry, with 20.1 billion lek, or 3.7% more than in the first half of 2025. Construction received 16.6 billion lek in new loans, an increase of 5.7%.
Significantly stronger growth was recorded in accommodation and food services. New loans to this sector reached 12.9 billion lek, up from 7.8 billion lek a year earlier, increasing by 65.5%. In value, businesses in this sector received about 5.1 billion lek more financing than in the same period last year.
The energy sector also saw strong credit expansion. New financing for electricity and gas supply reached 7.8 billion lek, almost double the 4.1 billion lek in January-June 2025. The annual growth is estimated at 89.5%.
Among the strongest increases is that of real estate activities. New loans to this sector increased from 2.4 billion lek to 5.1 billion lek, or by about 110% within a year. However, the sector's share in total new loans remains much smaller than that of trade, industry or construction.
Agriculture, forestry and fishing received about 1 billion lek in new loans during the first half of the year, 11.8% more than a year earlier. But despite the growth, financing for this sector accounts for less than 1% of total new loans granted to businesses.
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