TIRANA, Dec 3lbania’s trade deficit rose by 1.9% on the year to 266.4 billion lek련$2.914 billion/1.927 billion euro) in the first ten months of 2009, as exports fell much faster than imports, the statistics board said on Thursday.
The country posted a trade gap of27.8 billion lek롩n October alone, 15.8% lower on the year, the National Statistics Institute, INSTAT, said in a monthly report.
In the ten months through October, imports fell by 2.2% on the year to350 billion lek묠while exports slumped 13.4% to 83.6 billion lek뮍
Albania ended 2008 with a trade deficit of 327.32 billion leks, 17.3% up on the year.
European Union member states accounted for 79% of Albania’s exports through October and 64.5% of its imports. Italy and Greece were Albania’s main trading partners in the first ten months of the year.
Textile and footwear were Albania’s main export items with a share of 48% of the total through October. Minerals and fuels ranked second with a 18.9% share, followed by construction materials and metals with 12.3%.
Albania imported mostly machines, equipment and spare parts, which accounted for 22.9% of its imports. Food, beverages and tobacco products came second with 17.8%.
TRADE BALANCE (in billions of lek멺
Jan-Oct’09 Jan-Oct’08 Oct’09 Oct’08
Imports 349.984 357.913 37.436 42.567
Exports 83.557 96.478 9.644 9.570
Balance -266.427 -261.435 -27.792 -32.997
