The construction sector which had been in crisis since 2008 returned to growth increasing by 4.8 percent compared to the first quarter of 2010 and 11.8 percent compared to the final quarter of 2010
Tirana Times
TIRANA, July 6 – The Albanian economy continued its moderate growth even in the first quarter of this year despite the ongoing impacts from the global crisis which have lowered both business and consumer confidence. Latest data published by the country’s Institute of Statistics show the Albanian economy grew by 3.4 percent in the first quarter of 2011 year-on-year with transport, industry, construction and trade as the key sectors contributing to the growth.
The construction sector which had been in crisis since 2008 returned to growth increasing by 4.8 percent compared to the first quarter of 2010 and 11.8 percent compared to the final quarter of 2010. Construction, once the main driver of the Albanian economy registered negative growth rates during the whole of 2010 shrinking by up to 29 percent.
The best performance in the first quarter of this year was registered by the transport sector which grew by 13.3 percent year-on-year and 1.6 percent compared to the previous quarter.Second came industry whose activity grew by 12.4 percent year-on-year but dropped by 0.2 percent compared to the final quarter of 2010.
The “trade, hotel and restaurant” group continued its positive performance growing by 4.4 percent compared to the first quarter of 2010 and 2.2 percent compared to the previous quarter.The agricultural sector employing the majority of people in rural areas and generating about 18.5% of GDP and 48.3% of total employment continued its moderate performance even in the first quarter of 2011, growing by 2.8 percent compared to the same period in 2010 and 1.2 percent compared to the previous quarter.
The post-telecommunications branch continued its negative performance shrinking by 5.1 percent year-on-year and 1.7 percent compared to the final quarter of 2010.
The services sector, which in the final quarter of 2010 was one of the key driver of the economic growth, also registered negative growth shrinking by 0.6 percent year-on-year but was up 1.1 percent compared to the final quarter of 2010.
The Albanian government expects the country’s economy to grow by 5 percent this year after making budget cuts to keep public debt and the budget deficit in check. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund has lowered its 2011 GDP growth estimate for Albania to 2.7 percent, down from 3.4 percent earlier this year.
According to INSTAT, the Albanian economy grew by 3.9 percent in 2010, 0.2 percent below government’s expectations but far better compared to the 3 percent GDP growth forecast by international financial institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF and the EBRD. The country’s GDP grew by 5.4 percent in the final quarter of 2010 with industry and trade as the key sectors contributing to the growth.
The 3.4 percent growth comes at a time when retail sales continued to fall in the first quarter of this year, marking a drop in purchasing power and an ongoing saving trend as consumers expect harsher times ahead. Latest figures published by the country’s Institute of Statistics show retail sales in the first quarter of 2011 dropped by 5.9 percent year-on-year and 12.3 percent compared to the final quarter of 2010.
