TIRANA, September 1lbania’s trade balance for the first seven months of 2009 showed a deficit of 180.9 billion Lek (1.367 billion euro), an increase of 3.8% on the year, the National Statistics Institute, INSTAT, said on Tuesday.
In July alone Albania’s trade gap was 27.1 billion Lek, INSTAT said in a monthly report.
In the seven months through July, imports decreased by 1.9% on the year to 238.2 billion Lek, while exports fell by 16.4% on the year to 57.22 billion Lek.
European Union member states accounted for 80.1% of Albania’s exports through July and 64.3% of its imports. Italy and Greece were Albania’s main trading partners in the seven months through July.
Textile and footwear were Albania’s main export items with a share of 50.4% of the total through July. Minerals and fuels ranked second with a 17.3% share, followed by construction materials and metals with 12.1%.
Albania imported mostly machines and spare parts, which accounted for 24.2% of all imports. Food, beverages and tobacco products came second with 17.2%.
ALBANIA’S TRADE BALANCE (in billions of Lek):
2009 2008 July’09 July’08
Imports 238.156 242.725 36.771 37.570
Exports 57.220 68.449 9.668 11.043
Balance -180.936 -174.276 -27.103 -26.527
Albania ended last year with a trade deficit of 327.32 billion Lek, 17.3% up from 2007.
