The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development announced today that agricultural exports increased by 17.5% in value during this year’s 8-month period, compared to the same period last year.

The Foreign Trade Report published by INSTAT this week shows that exports of agricultural products of the commodity group “Food, beverages, tobacco” during the 8-month period (January-August 2023) increased in value – 38.44 billion ALL from 32.73 billion lek in the same period of 2022.
Statistics confirm that agriculture is the sector with the most stable export performance this year, trending upwards.

“Food, beverages and tobacco” are the sectors with the most stable performance of exports this year. In July, this group increased its exports by almost 20%. In August, however, this group recorded a relatively sharp fall of 9.7% on an annual basis, a result of unfavourable weather conditions, which led to a reduction in production.
However, over these 8 months, this group has grown by 17.5%, having the best performance, while remaining the fourth largest with 12.8% of the total.
Policies to support farmers, agriculture and rural development have encouraged local production, raising the quality and standards of products that are “Made in Albania”, which are competing for high quality even in the sophisticated, value-added markets of Europe and beyond.

The increase in domestic production has also impacted the improvement of the agricultural trade balance, marking a decrease in imports.
Thus, according to INSTAT: During an 8-month period (January-August 2023), imports of the product group “Food, beverages, tobacco” decreased by -3.7% (from 99.36 billion ALL in 8M 2022 to 95.69 billion ALL in 8M 2023).

Also in August 2023, imports of the product group “Food, beverages, tobacco” decreased by -4.3% in value terms (from 13.81 billion ALL in August 2022 to 13.21 billion ALL in August 2023).