Xifres de comerç exterior d'Albània

Foreign Trade in Figures

Albania’s foreign trade represents 75% of its GDP and is mostly made with Europe (World Bank, latest data available). The country mainly imports machinery, equipment and spare parts (19.7%); minerals, fuels, electricity (18.1%); food, beverages, tobacco (15.7%); construction materials and metals (14.4%); and chemical and plastic products (12.3%). Exports are led by textile and footwear (27.8%); minerals, fuels, and electricity (22.1%); construction materials and metals (21.6%); and food, beverages, and tobacco (10.6% - data Instat 2022).

Trade with EU countries represented 59% of total trade in 2022: in this period, the share of EU countries was 73.4% of total export and 51.6% of total imports. The main trade export destinations were Italy (43.2 %), Kosovo (7.8%), Germany (6.6%), Greece (5.2%) and Spain (4.8%); whereas imports came chiefly from Italy (21.7%), Turkey(12.1%), China (8.2%), Greece (7.8%), and Germany (6.2% - data Instat).

Albania's trade balance is structurally in deficit, mainly because exports are neither sufficiently diversified nor competitive in terms of price and because of the country’s narrow production base. In 2021, merchandise exports reached USD 3.5 billion (+42% y-o-y), while imports increased at a slower pace (38.5%), to reach USD 7.7 billion. However, the country is a net exporter of commercial services, which stood at USD 4 billion against USD 2 billion in imports (+65.4% and +59.1% y-o-y, respectively - data by WTO). According to data from the Institute of Statistics, Albania’s exports surged by by 32% in 2022, to ALL 486.7 billion against ALL 950.3 billion in imports (+18.7%).