Albania Environment - 2024

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution from industrial and domestic effluents; air pollution from industrial and power plants; loss of biodiversity due to lack of resources for sound environmental management

Environment - international agreements

party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Climate

mild temperate; cool, cloudy, wet winters; hot, clear, dry summers; interior is cooler and wetter

Land use

agricultural land: 42.8% (2018 est.)

arable land: 22.3% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 3% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 17.4% (2018 est.)

forest: 28.8% (2018 est.)

other: 28.2% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 64.6% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 1.29% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

0.18% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0.03% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 16.28 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 4.54 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 2.55 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 1,142,964 tons (2015 est.)

Major lakes (area sq km)

fresh water lake(s): Lake Scutari (shared with Montenegro) - 400 sq km
note - largest lake in the Balkans

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: (Black Sea) Danube (795,656 sq km)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 230 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 20 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 550 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

30.2 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Albania on this page is re-published from the 2024 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Albania 2024 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Albania 2024 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.