Albania Economy - 2004

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 remittances from abroad of $400-$600 million annually, mostly from Greece and Italy; this helps offset the sizable trade deficit. Agriculture, which accounts for one-half of GDP, is held back because of frequent drought and the need to modernize equipment and consolidate small plots of land. Severe energy shortages and antiquated and inadequate infrastructure make it difficult to attract and sustain foreign investment. The government plans to boost energy imports to relieve the shortages and is moving slowly to improve the poor national road and rail network, a long-standing barrier to sustained economic growth.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $16.13 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
7% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $4,500 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 49%
industry: 27%
services: 24% (2002 est.)

Population below poverty line:
30% (2001 est.)

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3.3% (2003)

Labor force:
1.35 million (not including 352,000 emigrant workers) (2003 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 57%, non-agricultural private sector 20%, public sector 23% (2003 est.)

Unemployment rate:
15.8% officially; may be as high as 30% (2003 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $1.65 billion
expenditures: $2 billion, including capital expenditures of $406 million (2004 est.)

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

Industrial production growth rate:
2.7% (2003 est.)

Electricity - production:
5.289 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 2.9%
hydro: 97.1%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption:
5.898 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:
221 million kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:
1.2 billion kWh (2001)

Oil - production:
5,952 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
22,400 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

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)

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

Exports:
$425 million f.o.b. (2003 est.)

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

Exports - partners:
Italy 71.5%, Greece 12.7%, Germany 5.5% (2002)

Imports:
$1.76 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)

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

Imports - partners:
Italy 34.6%, Greece 21.7%, Turkey 6.1%, Germany 5.6% (2002)

Debt - external:
$1.41 billion (2003)

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

Currency:
lek (ALL)

Currency code:
ALL

Exchange rates:
leke per US dollar - 121.86 (2003), 140.16 (2002), 143.49 (2001), 143.71 (2000), 137.69 (1999)