INSTAT: Exports grow by 12.9 percent

TIRANA, August 18

Albanian companies exported 158 billion ALL of the goods in January-July of this year. According to INSTAT, compared to a year ago, exports expanded by 18 billion ALL, or 12.9 percent.
The detailed data shows that the bulk of the growth has come mainly from two items, exports of construction materials and the Fason industry.  Agricultural exports have also been positive, even though their share is lower.
This is the first time since 2014 that exports of Albanian companies are growing. According to INSTAT, in the period 2015-2016, exports fell by 13 billion ALL, driven by the decline in the price of oil and minerals in international markets.
But this year, the decline in oil and mineral exports has stopped, while other items have increased.
The trend of trade exchanges has been the same even on the other side, that of imports. According to INSTAT, in the first 7 months of the year, imports increased by about 20.6 billion ALL compared to the last years, this affected by imports related to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) but also those due to the crisis.
This has caused that the trade deficit, the difference between the imports that the country buys from abroad and its exports to the world, expand by 1.4 percent over the years, reaching the figure of 192 billion ALL.

News Source: TCh

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