INSTAT: 17.48 million entries into Albania in nine months, 10.73 million of them by foreign nationals

More than 2 million Albanian and foreign nationals entered Albania in September, according to data published by the Institute of Statistics (INSTAT). A total of 2,024,320 entries were recorded, 3% more than in September last year, while departures reached 2,141,133, a more moderate increase of 0.6%.

Foreigners and Albanians

Of September's entries, 1,286,691 were by foreign nationals, up 2.1% from a year earlier. Albanian citizens recorded 737,629 entries, 4.5% more than in September 2025.

In the other direction, 1,317,259 foreign nationals left the country, 2.8% fewer than a year earlier, along with 823,874 Albanian citizens, up 6.6%. In September, departures by foreigners exceeded their entries by about 30,000, in the month that usually marks the end of the summer season.

The nine-month tally

From January to September, according to INSTAT, a total of 17,476,873 people entered Albania, 10,730,391 of them foreign nationals. The figures refer to border movements and not necessarily to the number of tourists: the same person can be recorded several times if they enter and leave the country more than once, and not every entry by a foreigner is for tourism.

Even so, the monthly data remain the quickest indicator of how the tourist season is going. The 2.1% rise in entries by foreigners in September shows that the flow continued even after the peak summer months.