Albanians prefer Greek goods
Years go by. Albanians are now more open than before in buying goods. But Greek goods never seem to go out of fashion for them. So, they seem to like Made in Greece goods the same way that they did when they used to migrate to the neighboring countries for work and they used to bring many goods produced there in the home country. So referring to the latest official figures, imports coming from Greece rank first in the list as opposed to other countries. According to these data, they accounted for 20% of the total during the month of August this year. They are only competed by Made in China goods, which in the same period, have registered higher imports. However, these imports only account for 13.9% of the total compared to Greece. Goods imported from Greece also top the list if the latter is compared to a year ago. So, expressed in figures, goods that arrived to Albania from Greece in the month of August, compared to last year, have registered an increase of 13.3%.
Germany and China want the Albanian market
Germany and China seem to be displaying a growing interest on the Albanian market. This is shown by the recent data according to which, these countries are increasing the presence of their goods. Meanwhile, they are being ranked among Albania’s main trade partners, after Greece, Italy and Turkey, which are known as its traditional partners in trade. “Albania’s main partners are: Italy with 27% of the total of trade, Greece with 7.8% , China with 7.5% and Germany with 7%”, INSTAT reports. Meanwhile, the Institute of Statistics also reports that throughout the entire year, this was the ranking of the main partners that our country trades with.
European sanctions penalized Albania’s trade with Russia
The sanctions introduced by the European Union against the Russian Federation and as a result, the fact that Albania adopted these measures too, seems to have penalized the trade that our country has had throughout the years with this country, although it must be said that the volume of trade has not been that great. Nevertheless, the latest official figures confirm a constant drop of trade volumes. The Institute of Statistics reports a fall of up to 4.4% of goods imported by this country during the month of August, compared to a year ago. Let us recall that it’s been a while now that the European Union is applying a package of sanctions against the Russian Federation. These sanctions have an economic nature, while Albania has become part of these sanctions too.
Turkish goods losing their “glory”, they are coming to Albania the same as before
It’s been years that they have dominated Albanian markets, being among the most preferred ones among goods arriving from other countries of the world. But this “glory” seems to be fading now, while goods from other countries of the world are penetrating the market. This is at least indicated by the figures issued by the Institute of Statistics, according to which, Turkish imports have seen a gradual fall. This year, imports of the goods made in Turkey have fallen by 13.1%. What’s more, this country is among the countries from which Albania is importing less and less. “Trade with countries of the European Union occupy 58.9% of Albania’s total volume of trade”, INSTAT says among others.