Albanian economy mainly relies on commerce. This phenomenon is also reflected by the number of companies registered nationwide in 2016. This is confirmed by the latest report of the Institute of Statistics, according to which, last year the number of companies registered in the commercial register was 21.6% higher. In terms of figures, according to INSTAT, the total number of companies that exert an economic activity in the country is 51.245. This is followed by farming companies, which amount to a total number of 32.659. Meanwhile, the number of companies offering services in 2016 was 28.986. Based on these results, the Albanian economy continues to rely on light sectors such as trade and services and also agriculture and light industry. Meanwhile, heavy industry and construction are the sectors with the lowest number of companies, namely 11.302 and 4.624 last year.
On the other hand, the Albanian economy mainly relies on small companies, as large companies are still small in number. So, referring to INSTAT figures, “large companies with more than 50 employees occupy only 1.1% of the total of active companies and their contribution in employment was estimated to be around 48.3% in 2016, as opposed to 46.2% in 2015”.
INSTAT further adds that 90% of active companies are small companies with one to four employees, where most of them or 61.8% are companies which only employ one person.
Half of businesses with foreign capital are Italian and Greek companies
Half of businesses with foreign capital, which exert their activity in Albania, are Italian and Greek companies. This is confirmed by INSTAT, according to which, if foreign companies and companies with joint capital occupy 3.5% of active companies in the country, 47.2% of them are Italian and Greek companies.
Both of them are the earliest and most powerful commercial partners that our country has had during the past decades and it seems that they continue like this even today. “Companies with foreign owners or joint owners occupy 3.5% of active companies, compared to a level of 3.9% in 2015 and they are responsible for 12.8% of the total number of employed people”, says among others the Institute of Statistics in relation to companies with foreign capital that exert their private activity in our country. Meanwhile, “companies from the European Union represent 68.8% of foreign companies or jointly owned companies and out of them, 56.4% are either Italian or Greek companies”, experts of INSTAT say. Meanwhile, INSTAT reports that economic activities such as call centers, shoe factories and banking activities are the ones which mainly have foreign owners or joint owners.
INSTAT also reports that foreign companies and companies jointly owned by foreigners are mainly focused in the districts of Tirana and Durres with 80.9% of the total. In other words, call centers, banks or textile companies which are owned by foreign citizens, operate in the central part of the country, where most of the population is concentrated along with the biggest commercial activity in the country.
Women lead 26.8% of active businesses in the country
“Women lead 26.8% of active companies as opposed to 31.3% at the end of 2015”. This is reported by experts of the Institute of Statistics, confirming that a quarter of the businesses that operate in the country are led by women. This is a declining trend, because a year ago, this level was higher than last year, 2016. The report further adds that the register of companies at the end of 2016 counts 160.679 active companies, marking a growth of 5.5% compared to 2015. In other words, compared to a year ago, Albania has more businesses which exert their private activity.
“Until the end of 2016, the number of farmers registered in the taxation office is 31.372”, is another fact which is confirmed by experts of the Institute of Statistics, confirming that the number of people who work in agriculture and who have been issued with a tax code has increased.
