Albania's gross domestic product expanded by 3.94 percent in the first quarter of 2017 over the same three-month period of 2016, helped especially by a strong construction sector, the Institute of Statistics said on Friday.

The figure is in line with the expectations of both Albania and the International Monetary Fund for annual GDP growth of 3.7 percent in 2017, up from 3.45 percent last year but still lower than an average growth rate of 6 percent from 2000 until 2008.

GDP was up 0.74 percent from the previous quarter. Read the full story ALBANIA's GDP expands 3.94 percent in Q1 2017