Albania’s exports and imports both recovered strongly in 2021 as its domestic and international economies recovered from the coronavirus crisis.

Data from the statistics office Instat shows that in 2021 Albania exported goods worth ALL 369 billion (€3 billion), up 35.6% from 2020. The value of imports was ALL 801 billion, an increase of 32.3%. The trade deficit increased by 29.6% to reach ALL 432 billion.

In December, Albania exported goods with ALL 32 billion, up 38.2% year on year, while imports rose 43.1% year-on-year to reach ALL 88 billion. However, exports were down 14.5% month-on-month in December and imports were up only 9.1% from November.

The main contributor to the annual change in exports in December was minerals, fuels and electricity, which added 12.2 percentage points (pp), followed by textiles and footwear (8.2 pp) and materials and structural metals (7.1 pp).

The same groups were the main contributors to the annual increase in exports; construction materials and metals added 14.1 pp, minerals, fuels, electricity 10.8 pp and textiles and footwear 3.7 pp.

For all imports, minerals, fuels, electricity was the main contributor, adding 18.7 pp. There were weaker contributions from construction materials and metals (6.3 pp), chemicals and plastics (4.9 pp) and other sectors.