poor country by European standards, Albania is making thedifficult transition to a more open-market economy. The economy
rebounded in 1993 after a severe depression accompanying the collapse
of the previous centrally planned system in 1990 and 1991.
Stabilization policies, including 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
5% of the population which works abroad, mostly in Greece and Italy.
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 1993. 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 1994, 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 equivalent - $3.3 billion (1993 est.)
National product real growth rate:
11% (1993)
National product per capita:
$1,100 (1993 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
31% (1993 est.)
Unemployment rate:
18% (1993 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
$1.1 billion
expenditures:
$1.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $70 million (1991
est.)
Exports:
$70 million (f.o.b., 1992)
commodities:
asphalt, metals and metallic ores, electricity, crude oil, vegetables,
fruits, tobacco
partners:
Italy, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Germany, Greece,
Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary
Imports:
$524 million (f.o.b., 1992)
commodities:
machinery, consumer goods, grains
partners:
Italy, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Germany,
Czechoslovakia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece
External debt:
$724 million (1993 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate −10% (1993 est.); accounts for 16% of GDP (1993 est.)
Electricity:
capacity:
1,690,000 kW
production:
5 billion kWh
consumption per capita:
1,520 kWh (1992)
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; one-half of work
force engaged in farming; produces wide range of temperate-zone crops
and livestock
Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin transiting the Balkan
route; limited opium production
Economic aid:
recipient:
$190 million humanitarian aid; $94 million in loans/guarantees/credits
Currency:
1 lek (L) = 100 qintars
Exchange rates:
leke (L) per US$1 - 99 (January 1994), 97 (January 1993), 50 (January
1992), 25 (September 1991)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
@Albania, Communications
Railroads:
543 km total; 509 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, single track and 34
km narrow gauge, single track (1990); line connecting Titograd (Serbia
and Montenegro) and Shkoder (Albania) completed August 1986
Highways:
total:
16,700 km
paved:
6,700 km
unpaved:
earth 10,000 km (1990)
Inland waterways:
43 km plus Albanian sections of Lake Scutari, Lake Ohrid, and Lake
