Albania’s trade deficit grows

TIRANA, March 3 – Albania’s trade deficit was 21.9 percent higher last month compared to January 2007, according to the Albanian Institute of Statistics.
The trade deficit in January reached 172.5 million Euros, with exports at 61.5 million Euros and imports at 234 million Euros.
The European Union remained Albania’s largest trading partner, accounting for 65.3 percent of all trade. Italy received the lion’s share of exports with 83.4 percent and also was responsible for 44.3 percent of all imports, while exports with Greece stood at 9.6 percent and imports at 27 percent.
Figures show that exports of construction materials and scrap metal rose by 33 percent, while textile exports grew by 17.3 percent. Mineral and energy exports slumped to 19.6 percent of exports.
It is estimated that most of the country’s trade deficit is offset by the remittances sent home by Albanian migrants in Western Europe and the U.S., estimated at 800 million Euros in 2007.