TIRANA, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Albania's trade deficit in the five months of this year registered a decline of 4.1 percent year-on-year, totaling at 127 billion lek (1.07 billion U.S. dollars), Albanian statistical office, INSTAT, said Monday.
INSTAT experts told reporters that Albanian exports rose by 16.7 percent on the year amounting to 111 billion lek, while imports increased by 4.6 percent, amounting to 238 billion leks.
Only in May 2017, the exports amounted to 24 billion lek, increasing by 18 percent compared to the corresponding period of 2016 while they rose by 0,8 percent compared to the previous month, according to statistics institute.
Imports of goods in May 2017 amounted to 55 billion lek, increasing by 5.8 pct, in comparison to the previous year and by 9.7 pct in comparison to April 2017, data showed.
Thus, in May alone, Albania's trade deficit totaled 31 billion lek, down 2.2 pct year-on-year.
Italy remained Albania's main trading partner in the January-May of 2017, absorbing 54.4 pct of Albania's exports and providing 29.7 pct of the imports into the country.
According to INSTAT, other major importers into Albania were Turkey, Germany, Greece, and China.
Albania exported mainly textiles, footwear, minerals, and construction materials and metals, and imported mostly machinery, spare parts, food, beverages and tobacco, chemical and plastic products.
Albanian exports had dropped for two consequent years, 2015-2016, due to the lower oil prices. But this year, the tendency has changed and exports are growing.
