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Albania:
Economy

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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 reduce the large gray economy. The economy is bolstered by annual remittances from abroad of $600-$800 million, mostly from Albanians residing in Greece and Italy; this helps offset the towering trade deficit. Agriculture, which accounts for about one-quarter of GDP, is held back because of lack of modern equipment, unclear property rights, and the prevalence of small, inefficient 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 eventually 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 2003-06 and inflation is low and stable.
GDP (purchasing power parity)
$20.46 billion
note: Albania has a large gray economy that may be as large as 50% of official GDP (2006 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate)
$9.306 billion (2006 est.)
GDP - real growth rate
5% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita
$5,700 (2006 est.)
GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 22.3%
industry: 20.9%
services: 56.9% (2006 est.)
Labor force
1.09 million (not including 352,000 emigrant workers) (September 2006 est.)
Labor force - by occupation
agriculture: 58%
industry: 15%
services: 27% (September 2006 est.)
Unemployment rate
13.8% official rate, but may exceed 30% due to preponderance of near-subsistence farming (2006 est.)
Population below poverty line
25% (2004 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% (2004)
Distribution of family income - Gini index
26.7 (2005)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
2.4% (2006 est.)
Investment (gross fixed)
23.7% of GDP (2006 est.)
Budget
revenues: $2.608 billion
expenditures: $3.1 billion (2007 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
Electricity - production
5.385 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - consumption
3.323 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports
300 million kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports
371 million kWh (2005)
Oil - production
3,600 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption
25,200 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - exports
1,240 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - imports
21,600 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - proved reserves
165 million bbl (1 January 2006)
Natural Gas - production
28.77 million cu m (2005 est.)
Natural Gas - consumption
28.77 million cu m (2005 est.)
Natural Gas - exports
0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural Gas - imports
0 cu m (2005)
Natural Gas - proved reserves
814.7 million cu m (1 January 2006 est.)
Current account balance
$-670.8 million (2006 est.)
Exports
$792.9 million f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Exports - commodities
textiles and footwear; asphalt, metals and metallic ores, crude oil; vegetables, fruits, tobacco
Exports - partners
Italy 67.7%, Serbia and Montenegro 5.8%, Greece 5.4% (2006)
Imports
$2.916 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Imports - commodities
machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, textiles, chemicals
Imports - partners
Italy 32.1%, Greece 17.7%, Turkey 8.1%, Germany 5.7% (2006)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold
$1.813 billion (2006 est.)
Debt - external
$1.55 billion (2004)
Economic aid - recipient
ODA: $318.7 million
note: top donors were Italy, EU, Germany (2005 est.)
Currency (code)
lek (ALL)
note: the plural of lek is leke
Exchange rates
leke per US dollar - 98.384 (2006), 102.649 (2005), 102.78 (2004), 121.863 (2003), 140.155 (2002)
Fiscal year
calendar year


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