8 minutes agoKosovo remains poorest country in Europe
Periskopi(8 years ago)
(8 years ago)A decade after declaring independence, Kosovo remains the poorest country in Europe. According to the World Bank, average per capita income in Kosovo accounts for $10,000, expressed according to the standard of purchasing power. This is the lowest level in the Balkans, followed by Albania at 11 thousand and 500 [...]
This is the lowest level in the Balkans, followed by Albania at $11,000 per capita. This makes the two Albanian states the poorest of the Balkans and Europe, while other neighbouring economies have an income level ranging from $12,000 to $18,000, reports the TCH.
Kosovo's economic backlog is also the result of the war with Serbia, the state from which it won ten years ago, independence to govern itself, but from which it still remains very economically dependent.
Official data shows that Kosovo buys 450m euros annually from Serbia and sells it only 48m euros. So only through trade, Kosovo annually gives Serbia 400m euros in net, the state that only a decade ago suppressed its freedom.
Kosovo's economic ties with Serbia are evidently stronger than those with Albania. Today Kosovo imports from Serbia three times as much as they bought in Albania, a moat which, apart from economic factors, is evidence of the political failure of the two Albanian states to integrate their economies.
