Albanians speak less, but consume more internet - AKEP: Social networks and online communication are changing user behavior
Mobile internet usage continues to grow rapidly in Albania, as citizens increasingly move away from traditional communication via calls and SMS. According to a report published by the Electronic and Postal Communications Authority, an active mobile user consumed an average of 10.98 GB of internet, 136 minutes of outgoing calls and 12 SMS during a month in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Compared to the same period a year ago, internet consumption increased by 22.8%, while the use of calls and messages decreased by 6% and 9.6%, respectively. The data shows that mobile phones are increasingly being used for social networking, communication in applications, video and data transmission, gradually replacing traditional forms of communication.
During the last quarter of 2025, total internet traffic on mobile networks reached about 68 million GB, while the volume of phone calls dropped to about 1 billion minutes. The number of SMS messages sent also fell to 87.6 million.
Although the market has seen a decline in the total number of SIM cards, Albania continues to remain above the European and world averages for the number of SIM cards per capita. At the end of 2025, there were about 3.1 million active SIM cards, or about 1.3 cards per capita.
The report also highlights a shift in the way citizens choose their communication packages. Users with postpaid contracts and hybrid plans have been increasing, reaching 46.6% of total active subscribers, which is mainly related to higher demand for internet and packages with more services.
The increase in internet use via mobile phones highlights the fact that mobile phones have now resized their role, moving from their traditional use for making voice calls, towards providing broad access to the virtual world (browsing information, transmitting data, making audio/video calls, texting, etc.), which directly impacts the volume of data transmitted in mobile services.
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