Construction crisis deepened

Recent data from the Institution of Statistics and Bank of Albania show that construction is the sector that has felt the economic crisis much deeper.

Construction shrank with 17% compared to one year ago. The calculations of Bank of Albania show that only due to the dropping in the construction sector, the economic growth slowed down with 2.1% during 2012. If construction would not fall in these levels, the economic growth in Albania would have been at almost 4%.

Since 2009, production has slowed down in all economic sectors, but construction has seen a drastic fall. Experts say that this was to be expected.

Construction was the main contributor of the Albanian economic growth before the crisis. Its weight in the GDP during 2008 reached the historic record of 15.8%. For some experts, the sector was taking the shape of a bubble, while the World Bank warned that economic growth based on construction was unstable.

Three years later the warnings came true. Construction in the GDP has reduced with 10%. Although it was expected in a long-term, World Bank experts note that the risis has accelerated the shrinking of the construction sector, without leaving time to the economy to compensate it with the orientation of production to other economic branches.