TIRANA, May 28- Exports have dropped by over 2 percent in the first four months of the year, with a shrinking transport in port and air operations during this period, but with increased rail transport on the other hand. By contrast, the air passenger transport has increased which reflects the growing interest of tourists for our country.
According to data from the Albanian Institute of Statistics (INSTAT), the volume of goods loaded/discharged at ports in April 2019 is 373 thousand tons, up by 2.0 percent compared to the same period of 2018. However, in the first four months of 2019, the volume of goods loaded/discharged at ports is 1.409 thousand tons, decreasing by 15.3 percent compared to 2018.
The freight volume transported by rail in April is 1,966 thousand ton-kilometers, increasing by 47.5 percent compared to April 2018. And in the first four months of 2019, the volume of freight transported by rail is 6,212 thousand tons, increasing by 41.2 percent compared to the same period of 2018.
The volume of goods transported by air in April 2019 is 186 tons of goods, decreasing by 1.7 percent compared to the same month last year. And only 751 tons of goods were transported by air in the first four months of 2019, down 16.5 percent compared to the same period of 2018.
The number of flights carried out in April 2019 is 2,178, marking an increase of 9.3 percent compared to April 2018. The number of passengers that traveled by sea line in April 2019 was 75,792 persons. This indicator has increased by 30.5 percent the same month last year. In the first four months of 2019, 227,298 passengers traveled by sea, increasing by 9.6 percent compared to the previous year. Air transport of passengers accounted for 74.4 percent of total transport in April 2019. The number of passengers traveling by air in the first four months of 2019 was 849,797 persons, increasing by 10 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.
The value of traded goods (export and import) was 84 billion lek (684.7 million euros) in April 2019 and 50.6 percent of them were transported by sea. In the first quarter of 2019, the value of traded goods (export and import) was 346 billion lek (2.82 million lek) and 52.2 percent of them were also transported by sea.
The goods exported by sea accounted for 54.4 percent of the overall trade in April 2019, while road export was 44.9 percent and air exporting 0.2 percent. Goods exported by road increased by 31.2 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. In the first four months of 2019 the goods exported by sea accounted for 60.1 percent of the overall trade, road export was 38.4 percent and by air amounted to 0.3 percent. The goods exported by road increased by 15.7 percent in the first quarter of 2019.
The products imported by sea on the other hand accounted for 48.8 percent of the overall trade in April 2019, road imports were 43.5 percent and air were 2.7 percent. Goods imported by rail increased by 210.6 percent in April 2019 while road imports increased by 5.6 percent compared to the same period last year. Products imported by sea accounted for 48.4 percent of the overall trade in the first quarter of 2019, with road imports accounting to 42.3 percent and air to 3.2 percent. Imported goods by road increased by 3.4 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.
