TIRANA, Sept. 29 – Albania’s exports extended their decline last August on a sharp drop in international oil and base metal prices and a freeze of garment and footwear products.
Data published by the country’s state statistical institute, INSTAT, shows Albania’s exports suffered a sharp 17.6 percent decline in August 2015 affected by a 17.3 percent cut in exports of “minerals, fuel, and electricity” and a mere 0.9 percent increase in “garment and footwear products” the country’s top two exports.
Albania exported 165.2 billion lek (€1.16 bln) of goods in the first eight months of this year when the decline in exports extended to 3.65 percent, up from an annual contraction of 2.1 percent in the first seven months of this year.
Affected by a sharp drop in international oil prices, exports of “minerals, fuels and electricity” dropped by a sharp 24 percent to 47.2 billion lek (€333 mln), ranking the country’s second most important exports.
The setback in exports was also affected by a slowdown in “garment and footwear” products which grew by only 2.3 percent to 58.5 billion lek (€412.6 mln) in the first eight months of this year, leading the country’s exports.
Trade exchanges with top trade partners Italy and Greece, which have only recently escaped recession, also suffered a moderate decline in the first eight months of this year.
Meanwhile, imports dropped by 0.65 percent in the first eight months of this year, affected by a sharp 34 percent in imports of ‘minerals, fuel and electricity.’
Imports of ‘machinery, equipment and spare parts’, an indicator also measuring private investments in the country, rose by 14 percent to 71 billion lek (€500 mln) in the first eight months of this year, leading the country’s imports.
The slowdown in exports also affected Albania’s trade gap which extended by 2.2 percent to 182 billion lek (€1.28 bln) in the first eight months of this year. The export/import coverage ratio also dropped to 47.5 percent, down from 49.1 percent during the same period last year.
A significant drop in international oil and base metal prices is having a negative impact on Albania’s exports which in 2014 registered their lowest growth rate since the onset of the global crisis in 2009.
Experts say the situation is a result of the poor diversification of Albanian exports which mainly rely on energy and garment and footwear products, accounting for 70 percent of total exports.
Albania’s exports suffered a setback in 2014 affected by poor electricity and oil exports. INSTAT data shows exports grew by only 3.75 percent in 2014, while imports were up by 6.7 percent, further widening the trade gap in a net importer such as Albania.
Albania’s exports grew by 15.6 percent in 2013, registering growth rates for the fourth consecutive year after the shrink in onset of the global crisis in 2009.
