Albania Environment - 2024

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.)