Albania's economy expanded by an annual 2.98% in the third quarter of 2015, accelerating from a 2.53% y/y increase in Q2, the statistics institute INSTAT said on January 11.

The World Bank recently downgraded its projection for Albania’s GDP growth in 2015 by 0.3pp to 2.7%. Albanian economy is expected to grow by 3.4% in 2016, according to the World Bank projection, which is in line with the government forecast.

The economic growth in Q3 was driven mainly by the construction sector, which contributed with 1.45pp, followed by the sector of professional, scientific and technical services as well as the public administration, education and health sector, which contributed by 0.53pp and 0.51pp, respectively. The agricultural sector contributed negatively, by -0.28pp.

The construction sector posted the biggest growth rate, of 16.54% y/y, followed by professional, scientific and technical activities (+10.34%) and the information and communication sector (+7.37%). Meanwhile, the sector of arts and entertainment, as well as financial activities and insurance sector, showed the biggest declines, by 3.34% and 2.63%, respectively. The farming sector fell by 1.4% y/y.

In the third quarter, Albania's economy expanded by 0.94% from the previous quarter.

In terms of its main components, gross fixed capital formation rose by 12.58% y/y in Q3. Household final consumption, which accounts for an important part of the total economy, increased by 1.9% y/y, while general government consumption fell by 1.88% y/y.