While exporters have been complaining for months that the devaluation of the Euro has put them in serious difficulties and that the sector has lost around 225 million euros from this phenomenon, the official data of INSTAT say that the situation could be even more gloomy.
The measurement made by the Institute of Statistics for the month of April shows that exports fell to 34 billion ALL, or about 340 million euros, decreasing by -19.2%, compared to the same period a year ago and by -19 .3%, compared to March 2023.
To put it more clearly, from about 42 billion ALL in April last year, exports fell to 34 billion ALL in the pre-election month, with a negative difference of 8 billion ALL, or almost 80 million euros less in the companies' budgets. In fact, it was not only the exchange rate that reduced the receipts of the companies, but also the significant drop in the prices of goods in the international markets.
In the month of April 2023, the countries with which Albania had the biggest decrease in exports, compared to April 2022, are: Italy (16.7%), Germany (48.2%) and China (59.9%). While the country with which exports have had the greatest growth is: Greece (5.9%), Kosovo (6.1%) and Spain (285.2%). Meanwhile, as a four-month period, imports decreased by 0.8%, compared to the first four months of 2022.