TIRANA, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Albania's trade deficit in September saw a notable decline of 13.2 percent compared to August, driven by a significant rise in exports, according to data released by the country's Institute of Statistics on Thursday.
In September, Albania's exports surged by 36.6 percent from the previous month, reaching 31.0 billion lek (approximately 341 million U.S. dollars). Meanwhile, imports increased modestly by 3.0 percent, amounting to 71.0 billion lek.
Despite the monthly improvement, exports remained under pressure on a year-over-year basis. This decline was primarily attributed to the strong value of the Albanian lek and sluggish demand from key international markets, particularly in Europe.
Among the various export sectors, only food, beverages, tobacco, machinery, equipment, and spare parts posted slight year-on-year growth in September. However, Albania's textile and footwear industries, traditionally significant contributors to the country's exports, experienced a 5.5 percent annual decrease.
During the first nine months of 2024, Albania's exports fell by 14.2 percent, totaling 286 billion lek. The sharp decline was largely driven by reductions in key sectors such as minerals, fuels, electricity, textiles, footwear, construction materials, and metals.
Italy continued to be Albania's largest export market during this period, with exports totaling 124.0 billion lek. However, this represented a 14.2 percent decline compared to the same period in 2023. In contrast, exports to China showed robust growth, increasing from 6.8 billion lek to 8.4 billion lek during the January-September period.(1 Albanian lek = 0.011 U.S. dollar) ■