Exporters of medicinal and aromatic plants are optimistic about 2026 and expect an increase in export volume.
The President of the Albanian Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Association, Filip Gjoka, says that the positive trend of the last months of 2025 will continue during 2026 with an increase in the volume of exports.
The reason, according to him, is the expectation of increased demand in foreign markets and increased export sales prices.
"The medicinal and aromatic plant export sector faced difficulties and revenue losses for almost 3 years due to the depreciation of foreign currencies. In the last months of 2025, the situation began to improve, influenced by the growing demand for medicinal plants in the markets of EU countries, the USA, Singapore or Australia, especially for plants such as milk thistle root, mountain tea, blueberries, etc., and by the increase in export prices. The 4 to 10% price increase managed to compensate for the revenue losses for exporting companies resulting from the depreciation of foreign currencies.
Even during 2026, we predict the same upward trend in foreign demand, but prices will also continue to be satisfactory. Especially if peace is achieved between Ukraine and Russia, demand in the markets will be high. Consequently, we expect the export situation to improve for 2026.
According to INSTAT data, for the period January-October 2025, imports of the group "Oilseeds, industrial or medicinal plants, animal feed" increased by 8% compared to the same period in 2024.
Despite the optimistic forecasts of exporters for an increase in export volume and expansion into new markets, Mr. Gjoka reiterates that the problem remains the lack of investment to increase processing capacities for the final processed product.
Only 32% of operators with collection, processing and export potential manage to produce a final processed product, while 75% of them were sold as raw materials without being processed, losing most of the value that could remain in the domestic economy.
Mr. Gjoka says that he does not expect investments to increase the sector's processing capacities in 2026. He also emphasizes that companies do not have the financial capacity to invest in large amounts and the closure of the IPARD II program remains an unresolved obstacle to the development of the sector.
Business model reformatting
In 2026, the president of the Albanian Export Center, Alban Zusi, says that exporters will reformat their business model and move to a closed operating cycle. This change will occur mainly in the leading companies in the textile and footwear manufacturing sector.
Unlike the textile sector, Mr. Zusi says that the agriculture and food sector is not expected to see significant developments, due to non-compliance with food safety standards, which is also expected to be reflected in a decline in production./Monitor Magazine
