Albania Economy - 2006

Economy - overview:
Lagging behind its Balkan neighbors, Albania is making the difficult transition to a more modern open-market economy. The government has taken measures to curb violent crime and to spur economic activity and trade. The economy is bolstered by annual remittances from abroad of $600-$800 million, mostly from Greece and Italy; this helps offset the towering trade deficit. Agriculture, which accounts for about one-quarter of GDP, is held back because of frequent drought and the need to modernize equipment, to clarify property rights, and to consolidate small plots of land. Energy shortages and antiquated and inadequate infrastructure contribute to Albania's poor business environment, which make it difficult to attract and sustain foreign investment. The planned construction of a new thermal power plant near Vlore and improved transmission and distribution facilities will help relieve the energy shortages. Also, the government is moving slowly to improve the poor national road and rail network, a long-standing barrier to sustained economic growth. On the positive side: growth was strong in 2003-05 and inflation is not a problem.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$18.07 billion
note: Albania has a large gray economy that may be as large as 50% of official GDP (2005 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
$8.528 billion (2005 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
5.5% (2005 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$4,900 (2005 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 22.8%
industry: 21.5%
services: 55.7% (2005 est.)

Labor force:
1.09 million (not including 352,000 emigrant workers) (2004 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 58%
industry: 19%
services: 23% (2004 est.)

Unemployment rate:
14.3% official rate, but may exceed 30% (2005 est.)

Population below poverty line:
25% (2004 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
28.2 (2002)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
2.4% (2005 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
22.6% of GDP (2005 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $1.96 billion
expenditures: $2.377 billion; including capital expenditures of $500 million (2005 est.)

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

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

Industrial production growth rate:
3.1% (2004 est.)

Electricity - production:
5.68 billion kWh (2004)

Electricity - consumption:
6.76 billion kWh (2004)

Electricity - exports:
200 million kWh (2003)

Electricity - imports:
1.08 billion kWh (2004 est.)

Oil - production:
3,600 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - consumption:
25,200 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - exports:
0 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - imports:
21,600 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - proved reserves:
185.5 million bbl (1 January 2002)

Natural gas - production:
30 million cu m (2003 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
30 million cu m (2003 est.)

Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:
2.832 billion cu m (1 January 2002)

Current account balance:
-$410 million (2005 est.)

Exports:
$650.1 million f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Exports - commodities:
textiles and footwear; asphalt, metals and metallic ores, crude oil; vegetables, fruits, tobacco

Exports - partners:
Italy 71.6%, Canada 4.3%, Germany 4.3% (2004)

Imports:
$2.473 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, textiles, chemicals

Imports - partners:
Italy 34.6%, Greece 20.4%, Turkey 7.7%, Germany 5.3% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$1.3 billion (2005 est.)

Debt - external:
$1.55 billion (2004)

Economic aid - recipient:
ODA: $366 million (top donors were Italy, EU, Germany) (2003 est.)

Currency (code):
lek (ALL)

Exchange rates:
leke per US dollar - 102.649 (2005), 102.78 (2004), 121.863 (2003), 140.155 (2002), 143.485 (2001)