Industry and agriculture, the two most important sectors in the country’s economy, have suffered declines over the last year. According to INSTAT, the two sectors employ almost half of the labor force in the country.

The decline in productivity in the processing industry and agriculture endangers more than half of the employed in Albania.

According to the latest data from INSTAT, the two most important sectors of Albanian economy have experienced contraction in yield and production throughout the last year.

In relation to GDP, industry fell by 0.69% during the past year and agriculture by 0.68%.

Agriculture accounts for nearly 20% of GDP, while industry contributes 10%.

But even more important is the employment rate of these two sectors, where together, according to INSTAT, they employ 525,000 people, or 54% of the labor force in the country.

The decline of these two sectors is a negative signal for the employment outlook.

In the last year especially, agriculture has entered a downward cycle, mainly influenced by the departure of the labor force abroad, the emptying of villages and rural areas as well as the lack of state subsidies.

Meanwhile, in the processing industry, the textile and footwear industry takes the main weight in employment.

At the end of 2022, the fashion industry employed 50,000, half of the total workforce in the industry sector.

The strong fall of the euro and the pressure of the increase of the minimum wage, has made many enterprises and factories in the country face high production costs, which compromised the freedom of products, the main competitive factor of Albanian exports in foreign markets.

In 2023, this sector realized sales of 126 billion ALL, with a decrease of 6.6% on an annual basis. The downward trend continued in December, with -15.4%.