TIRANA, Sep. 1 – Nearly a third of small businesses in Albania have shut down for good as a result of the coronavirus.
By the end of July, the pandemic shut down 32.4 thousand businesses, 98 percent of which were small businesses, according to the data provided by the General Directorate of Taxation . Furthermore, 57,000 people were left unemployed, making up 12 percent of the total workforce excluding the agricultural sector.
This is the lowest number of businesses registered in Albania since 2007, according to other data published by INSTAT. Although financial support packages did temporarily save some small businesses from immediate shutdown, thousands went bankrupt once the packages ended in July.
Moreover, based on the official data of the Tax Directorate compiled by Monitor, the total number of employees in the non-agricultural sector dropped to 630 thousand people by the end of July, compared to 688 thousand in February, thus marking a 8.3 percent drop.
On the other hand, big businesses were able to recover at a quicker rate; by the end of July, 375 thousand people were employed in big businesses – 10.5 thousand less than in February. Furthermore, 320 big businesses have been shut down since February, declining by only 1.36 percent.
According to official data from the Ministry of Finance, a total of about 65 thousand people, employed in almost 39 thousand small entities have benefited from the first financial package, which provided a monthly payment of 26 thousand ALL per month for three consecutive months (March-May).
