Economy Overview:

    An extremely poor country by European standards, Albania is making the
    difficult transition to a more open-market economy. The economy rebounded in
    1993-94 after a severe depression accompanying the collapse of the previous
    centrally planned system in 1990 and 1991. Stabilization policies -
    including a strict monetary policy, public sector layoffs, and reduced
    social services - have improved the government's fiscal situation and
    reduced inflation. The recovery was spurred by the remittances of some 20%
    of the population which works abroad, mostly in Greece and Italy. These
    remittances supplement GDP and help offset the large foreign trade deficit.
    Foreign assistance and humanitarian aid also supported the recovery. Most
    agricultural land was privatized in 1992, substantially improving peasant
    incomes. Albania's limited industrial sector, now less than one-sixth of
    GDP, continued to decline in 1994. A sharp fall in chromium prices reduced
    hard currency receipts from the mining sector. Large segments of the
    population, especially those living in urban areas, continue to depend on
    humanitarian aid to meet basic food requirements. Unemployment remains a
    severe problem accounting for approximately one-fifth of the work force.
    Growth is expected to continue in 1995, but could falter if Albania becomes
    involved in the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, workers' remittances from
    Greece are reduced, or foreign assistance declines.


National product:
    GDP - purchasing power parity - $3.8 billion (1994 est.)
National product real growth rate:
    11% (1994 est.)
National product per capita:
    $1,110 (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
    16% (1994)
Unemployment rate:
    18% (1994 est.)
Budget:
  revenues:
    $1.1 billion
  expenditures:
    $1.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $70 million (1991 est.)


Industrial production:

    growth rate -10% (1993 est.); accounts for 16% of GDP (1993 est.)
Electricity:
  capacity:
    770,000 kW


  production:
    4 billion kWh
  consumption per capita:
    1,200 kWh (1994)


Economic Activity

Industries:

    food processing, textiles and clothing, lumber, oil, cement, chemicals,
    mining, basic metals, hydropower
Agriculture:
    accounts for 55% of GDP; arable land per capita among lowest in Europe; 80%
    of arable land now in private hands; 60% of the work force engaged in
    farming; produces wide range of temperate-zone crops and livestock

Exports:

    $112 million (f.o.b., 1993)
  Commodities:
    asphalt, metals and metallic ores, electricity, crude oil, vegetables,
    fruits, tobacco
   Major Trade Partners::
    Italy, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Germany, Greece, Czech
    Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary


Imports:

    $621 million (f.o.b., 1993)
  Commodities:
    machinery, consumer goods, grains
   Major Trade Partners::
    Italy, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Germany, Czech Republic,
    Slovakia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece
External debt:
    $920 million (1994 est.)