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The Government of Albania joined the current International Agreement on Olive Oil and Table Olives on 13
February 2009 after filing its instrument of accession with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain, the
depositary of the Agreement. This accession brings the number of IOC Members to 16 (Albania, Algeria,
Croatia, Egypt, European Community, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Montenegro,
Serbia, Syria and Tunisia).
In 2006, an area of 45 700 hectares was estimated to be under olives in Albania, of which 40 700 ha were
bearing. Almost 97% of this crop area is rainfed with orchards located primarily in mountain areas. When
broken down by age, approximately 21% of the olive trees are 100 years old, 36% are aged between 30 and
40, 24% are 15-20 and 19% are under 15 years old.
In the 1980s Albania produced an average 25 000 t of oil-olives (3 000 t of oil) and almost 400 t of table olives
per year. By the 1990s average annual production of oil-olives had risen to 32 000 t (5 000 t of oil) and output
of table olives had increased to 3 000 t. Tree yields were very low during this period (7-10 kg) mainly because
of the very traditional cultural practices employed.
Currently, yearly production ranges from 7 000 to 8 000 t of olive oil and 5 000 to 6 000 t of table olives. |
