Albania Economy Profile 2009

Economy - overview

Lagging behind its Balkan neighbors, Albania is making the difficult transition to a more modern open-market economy. Macroeconomic growth has averaged around 5% over the last five years and inflation is low and stable. The government has taken measures to curb violent crime, and recently adopted a fiscal reform package aimed at reducing the large gray economy and attracting foreign investment. The economy is bolstered by annual remittances from abroad representing about 15% of GDP, mostly from Albanians residing in Greece and Italy; this helps offset the towering trade deficit. The agricultural sector, which accounts for over half of employment but only about one-fifth of GDP, is limited primarily to small family operations and subsistence farming because of lack of modern equipment, unclear property rights, and the prevalence of small, inefficient plots of land. Energy shortages because of a reliance on hydropower, and antiquated and inadequate infrastructure contribute to Albania's poor business environment and lack of success in attracting new foreign investment. The completion of a new thermal power plant near Vlore has helped diversify generation capacity, and plans to upgrade transmission lines between Albania and Montenegro and Kosovo would help relieve the energy shortages. Also, with help from EU funds, the government is taking steps to improve the poor national road and rail network, a long-standing barrier to sustained economic growth.

GDP (purchasing power parity)

$21.81 billion (2008 est.)
$20.56 billion (2007 est.)
$19.4 billion (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars
Albania has an informal, and unreported, sector that may be as large as 50% of official GDP

GDP (official exchange rate)

$12.96 billion (2008 est.)

GDP - real growth rate

6.1% (2008 est.)
6% (2007 est.)
5.5% (2006 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP)

$6,000 (2008 est.)
$5,700 (2007 est.)
$5,400 (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars

GDP - composition by sector

agriculture: 20.5%
industry: 19.8%
services: 59.7% (2008 est.)

Population below poverty line

25% (2004 est.)

Labor force

1.441 million (not including 352,000 emigrant workers) (2007 est.)

Labor force - by occupation

agriculture: 58%
industry: 15%
services: 27% (September 2006 est.)

Unemployment rate

12.5% (2008 est.)
13.2% (2007 est.)
note: these are official rates, but actual rates may exceed 30% due to preponderance of near-subsistence farming

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: 3.2%
highest 10%: 25.9% (2005)

Distribution of family income - Gini index

26.7 (2005)

Investment (gross fixed)

23.1% of GDP (2008 est.)

Budget

revenues: $3.458 billion
expenditures: $4.175 billion (2008 est.)

Public debt

51.9% of GDP (2008 est.)
51.4% of GDP (2007 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

3.4% (2008 est.)
2.9% (2007 est.)

Central bank discount rate

NA% (31 December 2008)
6.25% (31 December 2007)

Commercial bank prime lending rate

NA% (31 December 2008)
14.1% (31 December 2007)

Stock of money

$NA (31 December 2008)
$2.707 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of quasi money

$NA (31 December 2008)
$6.433 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of domestic credit

$NA (31 December 2008)
$7.247 billion (31 December 2007)

Industries

food processing, textiles and clothing; lumber, oil, cement, chemicals, mining, basic metals, hydropower

Industrial production growth rate

3% (2008 est.)

Electricity - production

2.892 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - production by source

fossil fuel: 2.9%
hydro: 97.1%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001)

Electricity - consumption

3.607 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - exports

0 kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - imports

2.8 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Oil - production

6,425 bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - consumption

30,900 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - imports

24,860 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - exports

748.9 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - proved reserves

199.1 million bbl (1 January 2008 est.)

Natural gas - production

30 million cu m (2006 est.)

Natural gas - consumption

30 million cu m (2006 est.)

Natural gas - exports

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - imports

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves

849.5 million cu m (1 January 2008 est.)

Current Account Balance

$-1.906 billion (2008 est.)
$-1.202 billion (2007 est.)

Agriculture - products

wheat, corn, potatoes, vegetables, fruits, sugar beets, grapes; meat, dairy products

Exports

$1.345 billion (2008 est.)
$1.076 billion (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities

textiles and footwear; asphalt, metals and metallic ores, crude oil; vegetables, fruits, tobacco

Exports - partners

Italy 57%, Greece 11.8%, China 5.8% (2008)

Imports

$4.898 billion (2008 est.)
$3.999 billion (2007 est.)

Imports - commodities

machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, textiles, chemicals

Imports - partners

Italy 30.7%, Greece 12.5%, Turkey 6.9%, Germany 6.3%, Switzerland 4.6%, Russia 4.2% (2008)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

$3.188 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
$2.162 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt - external

$1.55 billion (2004)

Market value of publicly traded shares

$NA

Economic aid - recipient

ODA: $318.7 million
note: top donors were Italy, EU, Germany (2005 est.)

Currency (code)

ALL

Currency (code)

lek (ALL)
note: the plural of lek is leke

Exchange rates

leke (ALL) per US dollar - 79.546 (2008 est.), 92.668 (2007), 98.384 (2006), 102.649 (2005), 102.78 (2004)

Fiscal year

calendar year