style="font-size:15px;"> Kombetar) or PBK [Abaz ERMENJI]; Albanian Republican Party or PR[Fatmir MEDIU]; Albanian Socialist Party or PS (formerly the Albania
Workers Party) [Fatos NANO, chairman]; Christian Democratic Party or
PDK [Zef BUSHATI]; Democratic Alliance or PAD [Neritan CEKA];
Democratic Party or PD [Sali BERISHA]; Group of Reformist Democrats
[Leonard NDOKA]; Liberal Union Party [Teodor LACO]; note - Teodor
LACO of the Liberal Union Party was leader of the Social Democratic
Union of Albania or PBSD; Movement of Legality Party or PLL [Nderim
KUPI]; OMONIA [Vagjelis DULES]; Party of National Unity or PUK
[Idajet BEQUIRI]; Social Democratic Party or PSD [Skender GJINUSHI];
Unity for Human Rights Party or PBDNJ [Vasil MELO, chairman]
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
International organization participation: ACCT (associate), BSEC,
CCC, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA,
IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user),
Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP,
UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOMIG, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO,
WTrO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Petrit BUSHATI
chancery: 2100 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 223–4942
FAX: [1] (202) 628–7342
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Joseph LIMPRECHT
embassy: Rruga Elbasanit Labinoti 103, Tirana
mailing address: PSC 59, Box 100(A), APO AE 09624
telephone: [355] (42) 32875, 33520
FAX: [355] (42) 32222
Flag description: red with a black two-headed eagle in the center
Albania Economy
Economy - overview: Poor by European standards, Albania is making the difficult transition to a more open-market economy. The economy rebounded in 1993–95 after a severe depression accompanying the end of the previous centrally planned system in 1990 and 1991. However, a weakening of government resolve to maintain stabilization policies in the election year of 1996 contributed to renewal of inflationary pressures, spurred by the budget deficit which exceeded 12% of GDP. The collapse of financial pyramid schemes in early 1997 - which had attracted deposits from a substantial portion of Albania's population - triggered severe social unrest which led to more than 1,500 deaths, widespread destruction of property, and a 7% drop in GDP. The government has taken measures to curb violent crime and to revive economic activity and trade. The economy is bolstered by remittances from some 20% of the labor force that works abroad, mostly in Greece and Italy. These remittances supplement GDP and help offset the large foreign trade deficit. Most agricultural land was privatized in 1992, substantially improving peasant incomes. In 1998, Albania recovered the 7% drop in GDP of 1997 and pushed ahead by 8% in 1999 and by 7.5% in 2000. International aid helped defray the high costs of receiving and returning refugees from the Kosovo conflict. Privatization scored some successes in 2000, but other reforms lagged.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $10.5 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 7.5% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $3,000 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 55%
industry: 24%
services: 21% (2000)
Population below poverty line: 19.6% (1996 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1% (2000 est.)
Labor force: 1.692 million (including 352,000 emigrant workers and 261,000 domestically unemployed) (1994 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 50%, industry and services 50%
Unemployment rate: 16% (2000 est.) officially; may be as high as 25%
Budget: revenues: $393 million
expenditures: $676 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.)
Industries: food processing, textiles and clothing; lumber, oil, cement, chemicals, mining, basic metals, hydropower
Industrial production growth rate: 9% (2000 est.)
Electricity - production: 5.332 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 3.81%
hydro: 96.19%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1999)
Electricity - consumption: 5.379 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports: 100 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports: 600 million kWh (2000)
Agriculture - products: wheat, corn, potatoes, vegetables, fruits, sugar beets, grapes; meat, dairy products
Exports: $310 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Exports - commodities: textiles and footwear; asphalt, metals and metallic ores, crude oil; vegetables, fruits, tobacco
Exports - partners: Italy 67%, Greece 15%, Germany 5%, Austria 2%,
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 2% (2000)
Imports: $1 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, textiles, chemicals
Imports - partners: Italy 37%, Greece 28%, Turkey 6%, Germany 6%,
Bulgaria 3% (2000)
Debt - external: $1 billion (2000)
Economic aid - recipient: $NA; aid for energy from China, Germany,
Norway
