Albania gets highest expenses for eggs and milk in Europe in terms of income

Compared to other countries in the region, nominal spending on these products is the highest in the region.

Serbs spend the same products on 163 euros, or 40% less. Northern Macedonia spends 198 euros, Montenegro 263 euros and Bosnia and Herzegovina 249 euros. The data refers to 2020, while Kosovo is not involved in these statistics.

In relation to gross domestic production, the costs for these products are higher in Europe, at 5.8% of GDP, much higher than the European Union average of 1%. The second behind Albania ranks Bosnia and Herzegovina, with 4.9% of GDP, followed by Northern Macedonia, with 3.8% of GDP.

But more than high consumption, increased expenditures result from the most expensive prices of these products, though they are almost domestic. But according to Eurostat data, Albania's price rate index for the egg, milk and cheese group in 2020 compared to the European Union (with 27 states) was 109, which means that local consumers buy these products 9% more expensive than in most European countries.

While in the region, eggs, milk and cheese cost cheaper in northern Macedonia, with an index of 78.1, or about 22% less than the EU average and 31% cheaper than in Albania. In Montenegro the index is 91, in Serbia 94.1 and Bosnia 82.5. In this way, Albania is the only state in the region, where households buy these basic products more expensive than the European Union average, although their income is 30% of the EU average.

Industry in Trouble

The milk processing industry in Albania has been facing enormous difficulties in the market for several years, causing part of the milk processing companies to go bankrupt or to be in financial trouble, due to various problems, lack of support schemes for brigtory, disparitive VAT scheme, favouring imports, added export barriers, poor milk quality on farms, IT market, and increasing costs from the last weeks of restrictions on the deal that resulted from Russia's attack on Ukraine.

This industry has long and systematicly raised its voice about the actual capacities of cattle farms, which are unable to meet the needs of milk - processing factories, such as quantum, quality, and food safety.

According to INSTAT, in 2020, farm milk production was 1.5 million tons, with a decline of 5.4% compared to 2019. The amount of milk accumulated for processing in 2020 is reported to be about 119 thousand tons, or 11% of the amount of milk produced on farms, marking a 14.8% drop compared to 2019.

The milk processing industry is supplied with cow milk in an estimated 897 thousand tons, or 85% of farm milk. The rest of the supply is almost equal among sheep's milk and goat milk (about 76 thousand tons). Only 22% of the consumer milk is sold on the formal market, 33% of the dairy results in formalisation, 15% of farms have NIPT.

Even the egg - producing industry in recent weeks is suffering from the effects of bird flu, which so far has led to the death of 350 thousand chickens. Instead, according to I NSTAT has a total of 5 million chickens. So far it has been damaged 7% of them./ Monitor