Albania Economy - 2005

Economy - overview:
Poor and backward by European standards, 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-half 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 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 and 2004, the nation has important oil and gas reserves, and inflation is not a problem.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $17.46 billion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
5.6% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $4,900 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 46.2%
industry: 25.4%
services: 28.4% (2004 est.)

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

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 57%, non-agricultural private sector 20%, public sector 23% (2004 est.)

Unemployment rate:
14.8% officially; may be as high as 30% (2001 est.)

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

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3.2% (2004 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
18.4% of GDP (2004 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $2.05 billion
expenditures: $2.46 billion, including capital expenditures of $500 million (2004 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:
100 million kWh (2002)

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

Oil - production:
2,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - consumption:
7,500 bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - exports:
0 bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - imports:
5,500 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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

Natural gas - production:
30 million cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
30 million cu m (2001 est.)

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

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

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

Current account balance:
$-504 million (2004 est.)

Exports:
$552.4 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)

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

Exports - partners:
Italy 71.9%, Greece 6.3%, Canada 4.4% (2004)

Imports:
$2.076 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

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

Imports - partners:
Italy 36%, Greece 20.4%, Turkey 8.1%, Germany 5.5% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$1.206 billion (2004 est.)

Debt - external:
$1.41 billion (2003)

Economic aid - recipient:
ODA: $315 million (top donors were Italy, EU, Germany) (2000 est.)

Currency (code):
lek (ALL)

Exchange rates:
leke per US dollar - 102.649 (2004), 121.863 (2003), 140.155 (2002), 143.485 (2001), 143.709 (2000)