Why did Albanians save more in 2025?

Deposits in banks (in Lek) at the end of 2025 reached 710.6 billion Lek. In fact, given the part where most citizens in the country have low incomes, this increasing level seems like a contradiction. But the reason is that deposits are increasing not because the majority of the population had more income in 2025, but because a smaller part of the population and businesses are accumulating more money, while the majority is simply spending less out of fear and uncertainty.

Economic uncertainty and the logic of “protective savings” constitute the main explanatory axis of the financial behavior of Albanians during 2025.

A key factor is the increase in perceived uncertainty.

Inflation in recent years, geopolitical crises, rising living costs and market instability have encouraged a typical “protective” behavior, where individuals, when they are not sure about the future, increase their savings and postpone consumption. This can be called saving for security reasons and is directly related to the fear of losing a job, income uncertainty and expectations for unexpected expenses, such as health, education or housing.

In this context, restrained consumption does not necessarily indicate much higher income, but it explains a large part of the increase in deposits. The increase in deposits does not automatically mean that Albanians have become significantly richer.

In many cases it is the effect of suppressed consumption, i.e. they do not spend because prices are high, and not of a proportional increase in purchasing power. So we have more savings from non-consumption than savings from new wealth, which indicates a protective behavior and not necessarily a real increase in welfare.

A very important structural reason is the lack of safe alternatives for investment.

Albania lacks real instruments for family investment, such as: a functional capital market, reliable investment funds, bonds for individuals and developed private pension products. When there is no place to invest with controlled risk, money is parked in banks. In this sense, the bank becomes a “safety deposit”, not a tool for capital multiplication and savings take the form of preservation, not investment.

The gradual formalization of the economy has also contributed to the growth of deposits.

Part of this growth comes from more electronic payments, less cash outside the system, and the formalization of income. So we don’t just have more money, but more money inside the banking system, which makes the growth of deposits also a reflection of the change in the way money circulates in the economy.

The growth of deposits in lek constitutes an important monetary signal.

The fact that the strongest growth is in lek, not in foreign currency, indicates more transactions and income in the local currency, a gradual decrease in “psychological euroization” and a relatively greater confidence in the stability of the lek.

This is positive for the financial system, but it also signals that Albanians are using the bank as a store of value, not as an investment channel.

On the other hand, transferable deposits show the nature of savings in 2025.

Their increase from 368 to 388 billion lekë shows that people want to save, but they do not want to “block” their money. So we have liquid savings, not long-term. A savings without conviction about the future and not savings for long-term investment.

This is typical of an economy with structural uncertainty, where individuals prefer flexibility over long-term planning.

At the behavioral level, 2025 also marks a psychological transition from “consumer” to “protector”, that is, from the logic of consumption, “let’s spend today”, towards the logic of protection, “let’s save because we don’t know tomorrow”.

This is both a sign of financial maturity, but also of hidden economic fear, which characterizes the behavior of families and businesses.

In summary, Albanians saved more in 2025 not because they became significantly richer, but because they consumed less, felt more insecure, did not see reliable investment alternatives and used the bank as an economic protection mechanism.

In macroeconomic terms, the growth of deposits is a sign of financial stability, but also a symptom of an economy that is not turning savings into productive investment.

But, in essence, the growth of deposits is an aggregate statistical indicator, while the social reality is economic polarization, as few people are saving more and more people are surviving on less.

This situation should not create the illusion of well-being, as long as the real income structure remains weak.