TIRANA, July 7lbania’s trade balance for the first five months of 2009 showed a deficit of 128 billion Lek (986 million euro), 4.2% higher on the year, the National Statistics Institute (INSTAT) said on Tuesday.
The country had a trade gap of 122.85 billion Lek through May last year, 15.7% higher on the year, INSTAT said in its monthly trade balance report. In May alone the trade deficit was 29.42 billion Lek.
In the first five months of 2009 imports decreased by 1.5% on the year to 166.16 billion Lek, while exports fell by 16.97% to 38.14 billion Lek.
European Union member states accounted for 81.8% of Albania’s exports through May and 63.2% of its imports. Italy and Greece were Albania’s main trading partners through May. A total of 27% of Albania’s imports originated in Italy and 15.2% came from Greece. Italy attracted 65.3% of Albania’s exports, while Greece accounted for 9.8%.
Textile and footwear were the country’s main export items with a share of 51.7% of the total through May. Minerals and fuels ranked second with a 15.5% share, followed by construction materials and metals with 12.3%.
Albania imported mostly machinery and spare parts, which made up 24.9% of all imports. Construction materials and metals came second with 16.5%.
Trade Balance (in billions of Lek):
Jan-May’09 Jan-May’08 May’09 May’08
Imports 166.16 168.76 37.66 36.63
Exports 38.14 45.94 8.24 10.18
Balance -128.02 -122.82 -29.42 -26.45
Albania ended 2008 with a trade deficit of 327.32 billion Lek, up by 17.3% on the year.
