TIRANA, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Albanian exports amounted to 243 billion leks (1.9 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016, registering a low annual growth of only 0.1 percent compared to the previous year, the Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) said Tuesday in its latest foreign trade report.
Imports amounted to 579 billion leks in 2016, registering a growth of 6.3 percent compared to a year ago, data showed.
Therefore, Albanian's trade deficit was estimated at around 335 billion leks, marking a year-on-year increase by 11.3 percent compared to 2015, INSTAT said.
On monthly basis, Albanian exports fell by 4.5 percent in December 2016 compared to the previous month.
However, INSTAT data showed that exports registered a 22.5 percent growth compared to the same month of previous year.
According to statistics, minerals, fuels, electricity, textile and footwear, machinery, equipment spare parts gave the main contribution to the exports growth in December. (1 U.S. dollar = 128 Albanian leks)
