Albania Sees Q3 GDP Growth Driven by Tourism

TIRANA, January 13

Albania’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased annually by 3.08 percent during the third quarter of 2016, and experts say that it was a tourism-led growth. Meanwhile, the economic growth from January to September reached 3.27 percent, which was lower than 3.4 percent target foreseen by the government and internationals monetary bodies.
“Transportation, accommodation, and restaurants and food industry gave the main contribution with 1.12 percentage points. Construction helped economic growth with 0.77 percentage points and financial activities with 0.42 percentage points,” chair of the Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) Delina Ibrahimaj said.
Moreover, agriculture, forestry and fishing activities increased by 1.57 percent while the industry, energy and water activities shrunk by 2.35 percent.
The statistics confirm the above-mentioned fact that tourism helped GDP’s growth, while in terms of expenses, economic growth was mainly affected by the positive trend investments’ trend.
This is the third year in a row with an economic growth following the lowest record it reached during 2013.

News Source: TCh

Photo Credit: Michael Jurick