The fall of the euro "disturbs" the trade balance / In eight months, exports represent slightly less than half the value of imports
The latest data published by Instat and analyzed by Scan Intel show a significant development in the country's trade balance during the period January-August 2025. The export coverage rate to imports has reached 45.4%, marking an improvement compared to 2024 when this rate was 42.9%, due to the recovery of exports. This rate means that exports during this year, in value, represent slightly less than half the value of imports.
During 2024 and 2025, the Albanian economy has faced a particular phenomenon that has significantly affected foreign trade, the decline of the euro against the lek. This depreciation of the European currency has brought visible consequences in the valuation of exports, negatively affecting their coverage rate against imports. Although the quantity of exported goods may be stable, income converted into lek is lower, making it more difficult to maintain a favorable trade ratio.
In 2021 and 2022, the coverage rate was fixed at 54%, representing the peak of the country's trade performance in the last decade. However, we must take into account the fact that during this period the values were affected by the increase in prices due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. This means that exports represented more than half of the value of imports, a feat that had not been previously recorded in the history of the first 8 months of previous years. For comparison, in 2023 this rate was 51.9%, while in 2020 and 2019 it was fixed at 47.8% and 46.7%, respectively.
Within the same analysis regarding the impact of the crisis on exports and imports, we see that during the eight months, Albanian exports have cost an average of 87 lek per kilogram, while last year they cost 90 lek per kilogram. So, we are dealing with a decline. Meanwhile, imports in the same period cost an average of 132 lek per kilogram, while a year ago, 141 lek per kilogram.
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