Maritime transport is the main method for the transportation of goods in Albania and until 2021, this sector accounted for almost half of the total import – export transportation of goods. The situation headed towards a turning point in 2022, where the processing of goods through seaports showed a decrease in the volume, as well as share against the total transportation of goods. The data concerning the first 11th months of 2022, compared to the corresponding period of the previous years show that the volume of goods processed by the maritime sector has decreased by 21% compared to the eleventh month of 2021.



Source: INSTAT
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania

This is a paradox if we consider the fact that in total, the volume in the freight transportation in the country (imports and exports),during  the last yea,r has increased compared to the previous year by about 9%. The share in the volume of goods processed via maritime transport has marked an all time eleven-month negative record, with only 43% of the total goods being processed by the maritime transport sector.



Source: INSTAT
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania

This decrease is significant in all throughout the 2022, but even more so in August, with a drop by 40%, compared to the same period the year before.



Source: INSTAT
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania

The year 2021 marked the highest level in the transportation of goods through Albanian ports (4,840 thousand tons). It should be borne in mind that in 2021, another port started working on the transportation of goods, the new port of Durrës, Porto Romano, for which the Albanian Parliament approved law no. 58, dated 30.04.2020, revisiting the existing PPP Contract and extending the concession’s purpose from a port for hydrocarbons to a cargo port without limitations.



Source: INSTAT
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania

The analysis based on the data provided by the ports shows that only the port of Durrës has recorded an increase in the volume of goods transported, while the other three ports have experienced a decrease. The port of Durrës has increased by 9% the volume of goods processed during the years 2014-2021, compared to the years 2006-2013, while the port of Vlora has reduced the transport of goods by minus 78%, the port of Saranda by minus 37%, and the port of Shengjin with minus 29%.



Source: INSTAT
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania



Source: INSTAT
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania

Maritime transport of goods shows that the vast majority of it is carried out through the port of Durrës. During the 2005-2021 period, 87% of the entire volume of freight transport was carried through the port of Durrës. The port with the second highest volume of transported goods is the port of Shengjin with 7% of the total. The port of Vlora follows with 5% and the port of Saranda with 1%.



Source: INSTAT
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania

The port of Vlora has suffered the biggest drop in goods processing. Respectively, in the years 2005-2009, this port processed more than 10% of goods transported by sea, whereas after 2012, this port processes less than 3% of all goods transported by way of the Albanian sea. The port of Shengjin also suffered a decrease, from a port that processed about 9% of goods transported by sea, to 5% during the years 2018-2021.

The monthly progress shows that in the month of June 2022 onwards, the volume of goods processed in the Albanian ports has decreased by over 100 thousand tons per month, compared to the same period a year ago. The biggest drop was recorded in the month of August, in which the volume of goods transported through the ports decreased by 174 thousand tons, compared to August 2021.



Source: INSTAT
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania

The contraction and negative balance for the most important sector of freight transport, the Maritime Sector, provides an important clue concerning the monitoring and assessment over the quality of the  decision-making at executive and legislative level, with an impact on the national economy.

Download excel: Maritime Transport volume and it’s share against the total Freight Transport, nine months 2022 as well as the trend in the years 2006 – 2022
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Contributed by: Ilir Brasha
Translated by: Rezarta Cushaj