TIRANA, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Albania's trade deficit in the first half of 2017 inched down 0.1 percent year on year, or 162 billion leks (1.4 billion U.S. dollars), the Albanian statistical office (INSTAT) said Monday.
According to INSTAT, Albanian exports increased by 13.5 percent on the year, while imports increased by 5.6 percent.
Official data showed that trade with European Union (EU) countries accounted for 68.8 percent of total trade during the first six months while in June 2017, exports to EU countries occupied 78.3 percent of total exports.
Albania's main trade partners remain Italy (36.6 percent), Greece (7.7 percent), Germany (7.5 percent) and Turkey (5.6 percent).
Albania exported mainly construction materials and metals, textile and footwear, minerals, and construction materials and metals. In terms of imports, the main items were chemical and plastic products, textile and food, drinks and tobacco.
Italian imports registered an increase of 3.8 percent, while Greek imports registered a 25.2-percent increase.
