INSTAT data show the textile and footwear industry was the main exporter in 2010 with 55.6 billion lek followed by “minerals, fuel and electricity” with 45 billion lek
TIRANA, Jan. 24 – Albania’s trade gap grew to a record 35.1 billion lek (around 350 million US dollars) in December 2010, up 27.5 percent compared to the previous month and 5.3 percent year-on-year, according to the latest INSTAT data. The situation was mainly a result of a 3.5 percent drop in exports compared to last November and a sharp 16.9 percent increase in imports. INSTAT foreign trade data show Albania exported 13.7 billion lek of goods in December 2010, up 39.4 percent compared to December 2009 mainly because of higher electricity, mineral and garment and footwear exports.
Meanwhile, imports in December registered 48.8 billion lek, up 13.1 percent on the year.
The European Union remained Albania’s main trade destination even last December accounting for 65.9 percent of Albania’s exports and imports. Italy continued remaining the top trade partner with 49.1 percent of total exports and 27.1 percent of imports followed by neighbouring Greece with 5.5 percent of exports and 14.4 percent of imports.
Compared to November 2010, the import of excise goods, around 70 percent of which are made up of oil products, grew by 19.4 percent accounting for 7.1 billion lek billion lek.
Institute of Statistics data show Albania’s best performing exports in December 2010 were “‘wood and paper products’ with a 31.2 percent increase compared to the previous month, chemical and plastic products with 21.4 percent and leather products with 13.3 percent.
The ‘food beverage and tobacco” exports registered the sharpest decrease dropping by 24.5 percent differently from last November when they were the best performing.
Imports of food “food, drinks and tobacco” registered a record 31.6 percent considering the year-end holidays but also the warned increased tobacco excise tax starting from January 1, 2011.
INSTAT data show the textile and footwear industry was the main exporter in the January-December period with 55.6 billion lek followed by “minerals, fuel and electricity” with 45 billion lek, accounting for 34 percent and 28 percent of total exports respectively.
The garment and footwear industry, which employs more than 40,000 workers overcame the 2009 crisis, when exports dropped by 8 percent because of lower demands from the traditional partners which were hardly hit by the global crisis. INSTAT data show exports of this group grew by 13 percent year-on-year in 2010.
The “minerals, fuel and electricity” exports more than doubled compared to 2009 thanks to huge electricity sales following heavy rains considerably improving the water levels in the country’s northern hydropower plants where officials also opened the gates several times to protect the dams flooding thousands of hectares of land and hundreds of houses.
Exports of construction materials and metals also grew 2.5 times increasing to 32.3 billion lek, up from only 12.9 billion in 2009, ranking the third biggest exporting group.
Meanwhile, imports of “machinery equipment and spare parts” dropped to 93 billion lek during, down from 98.3 billion lek during 2009, a sign showing businesses are spending less on new technology also because of falling purchasing power and tighter lending standards banks apply.
Albania is a net importer of food products with a considerable negative trade balance.
According to IMF’s projections, Albania’s trade balance (goods and service) will account for -22.7 of the GDP in 2010 and is expected to drop to -19.2 percent of the GDP only by 2013, down from an estimated -25 percent in 2009.
