Albania exports 5.7m euros worth of masks to the EU during the pandemic

 The sudden closure of March as Albania and all of Europe struggled to stop the coronavirus pandemic that put all businesses in trouble.

The textile industry, the largest exporter in Albania, faced the cancellation of orders from foreign partners, mainly Italian ones.

But with the immediate change of situation, a chance appeared on the horizon. Demand for masks increased significantly from all countries. 

Data published by Eurostat show that during the first 7 months of the year, European Union countries have imported from Albania about 5.7 million euros of masks, from only 316 thousand euros that was this import for the whole. The main countries that have imported masks from Albania are Italy (2.8 million euros), Greece (1 million euros), France (900 thousand euros), Germany (976 thousand euros), and Belgium (278 thousand euros), according to Eurostat.

However, data for the entire region show that Albanian businesses failed to take advantage of this opportunity immediately, although the textile industry is very widespread in the country and accounts for a significant share of exports, with about 20% of the total, according to INSTAT data.

In the 7 months of 2020, the total exports of Albanian textiles were about 250 million euros, and masks accounted for less than 3% of them. Of the countries in the region, North Macedonia has managed to make the most of all the demands of EU countries. Imports from EU countries of masks produced in North Macedonia amounted to almost 17 million euros for the period January-July 2020, from 180 thousand euros throughout 2019, then Serbia with 13.4 million euros and Bosnia with 11.2 million euros. Albania is fourth in the "Western Balkans race" to supply the EU with masks.