December 3 (SeeNews) - Albania’s trade deficit rose by 1.9% on the year to 266.4 billion leks ($2.914 billion/1.927 billion euro) in the first ten months of 2009, as exports fell much faster than imports, the statistics board said on Thursday.
The country posted a trade gap of 27.8 billion leks in October alone, 15.8% lower on the year, the National Statistics Institute, INSTAT, said in a monthly report.
In the ten months through October, imports fell by 2.2% on the year to 350 billion leks, while exports slumped 13.4% to 83.6 billion leks.
European Union member states accounted for 79% of Albania’s exports through October and 64.5% of its imports. Italy and Greece were Albania’s main trading partners in the first ten months of the year.
Textile and footwear were Albania’s main export items with a share of 48% of the total through October. Minerals and fuels ranked second with a 18.9% share, followed by construction materials and metals with 12.3%.
Albania imported mostly machines, equipment and spare parts, which accounted for 22.9% of its imports. Food, beverages and tobacco products came second with 17.8%.
ALBANIA'S TRADE BALANCE (in billions of leks):
|
Jan-Oct'09 |
Jan-Oct'08 |
Oct'09 |
Oct'08 |
Imports |
349.984 |
357.913 |
37.436 |
42.567 |
Exports |
83.557 |
96.478 |
9.644 |
9.570 |
Balance |
-266.427 |
-261.435 |
-27.792 |
-32.997 |
Albania ended 2008 with a trade deficit of 327.32 billion leks, 17.3% up on the year.
(1 euro = 138.2688 Albanian leks)