Exporters are the only ones winning in the current crisis- Export prices this year have increased twice as much as imports 

The price increase has had a visible effect on foreign trade numbers, reporting double-digit growth in both exports and imports for months. As a result, these months of crisis have shown the benefits that Albanian exporters are having as prices in relation to weight have increased significantly more in exports than imports. On the other hand, in the first 8 months of this year, according to the data provided by INSTAT, the weight of exports versus imports has reached a new historical record, reaching close to 54%. This rate has never been recorded prior to this time.

At this rate, we can understand that exports during this year represent more than half the value of imports. During the first 8 months of the prior year, this rate had reached 47.8%. On the other hand, for the same period of 2020, the rate was at 45% and in 2019 it was at 46.6%.

Regarding the impact of the crisis on exports and imports, within the same analysis we see that during August, Albanian exports cost an average of 117 ALL per kg, while in the same month last year they cost only 67 ALL per kg. As said, we are dealing with an increase of almost 74.6%. Meanwhile, imports in August cost an average of 172.18 Lek per kilogram, while a year ago, they cost 126.9 Lek per kilogram, an increase of 35.6%.

If the analysis focused on the first 8 months of this year, we would confirm that the situation was worse. In that period of 2022, prices for products of export were around 132.5 LEK per kg, whilst during the first 8 months of last year they were up to only 73.7 LK per kg. Meanwhile, for imports, the price per kilogram this year has gone up from 136.7 per kg to 185 per kg, an increase of only 35.4%.

These numbers clearly state that the price of Albanian exports has increased twice as much as that of imports, which seems to be one of the few positive aspects of the price crisis.

So, during the current crisis, “Made in Albania” products are benefiting more than imports. However, we must take into account that this trend is not the same in all sectors, as has been observed with agriculture, where export prices per kg have registered a rather modest increase this year, especially compared to the growth of products imported.

Meanwhile, other sectors, such as fashion, record high growth in exports, but this industry does not bring significant added value to the Albanian economy, despite the foreign trade numbers.

Translated by: Xhenisa Xhangoli/ SCAN

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