In the first nine months of 2019, exports in Albania decreased by 2.8 percent year-on-year, the National Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) reported on Thursday.
According to INSTAT official data, in the first nine months of 2019, the value of exports in Albania was 225 billion Albanian leks (around 2 billion U.S. dollars), decreasing by 2.8 percent year-on-year.
The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project, which envisages transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe, is among the projects underpinning Albania’s economic growth.
Standard & Poor’s said in its report that it expects Albania’s real GDP growth will average almost 4 percent over the next three years, driven by investments and rising service exports.
“A number of large-scale investment projects currently underpin growth, and will likely be completed in 2019, including the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which will connect Albania with Italy and the Caspian Sea, as well as the construction of a hydropower plant,” said the report.
The countries with which Albania had the highest increase in exports in this period, compared to the same period in 2018, were Germany (6 percent) and China (16.3 percent), according to the data.
A decrease in exports in this period was registered with Italy, Spain and Greece, respectively by 2.1 percent, 16.1 percent and 2.7 percent.
In terms of imports in this period, INSTAT report showed that the value of imports reached 481 billion Albanian leks (ALL), increasing by 3 percent year-on-year. The trade deficit in this period was 256 billion ALL, increasing by 8.8 percent year-on-year.
