"Made in Albania" goods, more towards Croatia and the USA/ Albanian exports diversify, Italy loses weight over the five-month period
Data from INSTAT for the first five months of 2026 show an expansion of Albanian exports to countries in the region, China and the United States, while Italy and Spain have recorded a significant decline.
According to figures, Albanian exports reached around 158 billion lek in the period January-May 2026, with an increase of 4.5% compared to the same period a year earlier. However, despite the overall growth, the main markets have shown mixed performance.
Italy remains Albania's largest trading partner, but exports to it fell by 5.6%, to around 60.7 billion lek. An even sharper decline was recorded to Spain, where exports shrank by 41.8%, one of the largest decreases among major trading partners.
In contrast, exports to China increased by 83.3%, reaching over 6.5 billion lek, while exports to the United States expanded by 75.9%, to over 3.2 billion lek. Strong growth was also recorded by Turkey with 25.7%, Croatia with 38.4%, as well as Kosovo and North Macedonia, with increases of 13.9% and 14.4%, respectively.
Germany and Greece also continued to strengthen their role as important destinations for Albanian goods, with growth of over 21% in both cases, partially offsetting the weakness of exports to Italy and Spain.
Regarding imports, Albania continues to rely mainly on China, from where imports increased by 26.2%, reaching over 52.3 billion lek. Imports also increased by 45.8% from Russia, 13.4% from Kosovo, 4.9% from Greece and 7% from Switzerland.
On the other hand, imports from Italy, the country's largest trading partner, fell slightly by 0.7%, while contractions were also recorded for Germany, Turkey, North Macedonia, Spain and Ukraine.
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