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Albania posts 1.3 pct y-o-y rise in trade deficit in Q1

Xinhua, April 18, 2017 Adjust font size:

Albania's trade deficit registered a growth of 1.3 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2017, amounting to 71 billion lek (559.1 million U.S. dollars), the statistical office, INSTAT, informed Tuesday.

In the first three months of the year, exports amounted to 62 billion lek, an increase of 15.7 percent compared to same period of the previous year, while imports amounted to 133 billion lek, an increase of 7.5 percent, INSTAT said in a statement.

Meanwhile, in March alone, Albania's trade deficit increased by 12.8 percent year-on-year, statistics showed.

The value of exports amounted to 23 billion lek in March, increasing by 17.2 percent on year.

According to INSTAT, imports value amounted to 54 billion lek in March, increasing by 14.6 percent on year.

Italy remained Albania's main trading partner in the first three months of 2017, absorbing 71.3 percent of Albania's exports and accounting for 44.9 percent of imports to the country. Other major exporters to Albania were Greece, Germany, Spain and Austria, according to official data.

INSTAT also said that Albania exported mainly textiles, footwear, construction materials, and metals. Concerning imports, it was mainly machinery, equipment and spare parts, as well as chemical and plastic products that came to the country. (1 U.S. dollar = 1.26 Albanian lek) Endit