Archive:Enlargement countries - international trade in goods statistics

Data extracted in March 2018.

Planned article update: April 2019.

Highlights

Nearly four fifths of all goods exported from the enlargement countries in 2017 originated in Turkey.

The seven elargment countries recorded in total a trade deficit of EUR 83.6 billion in 2017.

International trade in goods with the EU-28, 2017
(% share of total exports and imports)
Source: Eurostat (ext_lt_intercc)

This article is part of an online publication and provides information on a range of international trade statistics for the European Union (EU) enlargement countries, in other words the candidate countries and potential candidates. Montenegro, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Serbia and Turkey currently have candidate status, while Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo ^[1] are potential candidates.

The article gives an overview of international trade developments for goods in these seven countries, covering imports and exports, as well as the trade balance. The article also presents an analysis of international trade by selected product groups (based on the standard international trade classification (SITC)) and by selected partners (including an analysis of their trade positions with the EU-28).

Full article

Value of exports and imports

The total value of the goods exported from the EU-28 to the rest of the world in 2016 was 41 % higher than its level in 2007. There was an even faster development to international trade flows for most of the enlargement countries over a similar period, 2007-2017 (see Table 1), as some countries made reforms to develop market-based economic systems. The value of exports from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo more than doubled, while the export of goods from Albania were more than seven times as high in 2017 than 10 years earlier. By contrast, the value of exports from Montenegro fell by nearly a fifth (18 %) during this period.

Table 1: International trade in goods, 2007, 2012 and 2017
(million EUR)
Source: Eurostat (ext_lt_intertrd) and (ext_lt_intercc)

Nearly four fifths of all goods exported from the enlargement countries originated in Turkey

In 2017, exports of goods from Turkey were valued at EUR 139 billion. As such, Turkey accounted for close to four fifths (83.4 %) of the total value of exports from the seven enlargement countries in 2017. Serbia had the second highest level of exports among the enlargement countries (8.6 % of the total), while the third and fourth highest shares were recorded in Bosnia and Herzegovina (3.4 %) and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (3.0 %).

The total value of EU-28 imports of goods rose at a relatively slow pace when compared with the pace of growth for exports. There was an overall increase of 18 % in the value of EU-28 imports between 2007 and 2016 in current price terms. All of the enlargement countries except for Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina recorded a faster expansion for the value of goods imported between 2007 and 2017, with imports increasing by at least 50 % in Albania, Turkey, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Kosovo.

None of the enlargement countries recorded a trade surplus for goods

In 2017, none of the enlargement countries registered a trade surplus for goods. Together these seven countries recorded a trade deficit of EUR 83.6 billion. Between 2007 and 2017, the size of the Turkish trade deficit widened from EUR 45.8 billion to EUR 67.7 billion. In most other enlargement countries the trade deficit also widened during this period, the exceptions being Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina where the trade deficits for goods were narrower in 2017 than in 2007 (2008 for Bosnia and Herzegovina).

The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia were particularly open to international trade

One indicator that may be used to analyse the relative importance of international trade in goods is the value of exports and/or imports expressed relative to gross domestic product (GDP) — see Table 2. Note that the export and import values used in this calculation are based on national accounts data, rather than statistics for the international trade of goods, and these may differ for methodological reasons.

Table 2: International trade in goods, relative to GDP, 2006-2016
(% of GDP)
Source: Eurostat (nama_10_gdp)

EU-28 exports of goods in 2016 corresponded to 31.5 % of GDP, while imports were equivalent to 29.5 % of GDP; note that these data include trade between EU Member States. Using this measure, most of the enlargement countries were seen to be more open to imports. This was particularly the case in relation to the relative weight of imports of goods entering some of the smaller economies. Indeed, the value of imports of goods into the enlargement countries (for which data are available) ranged from 30.0 % of GDP in Albania (2015 data) up to 53.9 % of GDP in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in 2016.

The contribution of exports of goods to GDP was somewhat above the EU-28 average in Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in 2016, but considerably lower in Montenegro, Albania (2015 data) and Kosovo.

Structure of trade analysed by broad groups of goods

Machinery and vehicles accounted for the highest proportion of goods exported from the EU-28 in 2016, with a 42.7 % share of the total. This was considerably higher than the shares recorded for other manufactured goods (22.7 %) and chemicals (18.0 %), while each of the remaining goods categories shown in Table 3 accounted for less than 10 % of total EU-28 exports.

Table 3: Exports by broad group of goods, 2017
(% of total exports)
Source: Eurostat (ext_lt_intertrd) and (ext_lt_intercc)

Other manufactured goods were the largest category of goods exported by nearly all of the enlargement countries

Other manufactured goods (which cover SITC Sections 6 and 8) accounted for the highest share of total exports in each of the enlargement countries in 2017, except in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. These goods accounted for approximately two thirds of all the goods exported from Albania, and nearly half of the total goods exported from Bosnia and Herzegovina, a share that fell to just over two fifths in Turkey and Kosovo and closer to one third in the remaining enlargement countries. The share of other manufactured goods in total exports was consistently higher among the enlargement countries than their corresponding share of EU-28 exports. In the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the share of machinery and vehicles (29.5 %) in total exports was marginally higher than that of other manufactured goods (29.0 %).

The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was the only enlargement country to report that chemicals accounted for in excess of 10 % of its total exports of goods in 2017, their share in fact reaching 24.0 % (and therefore above the corresponding share recorded in the EU-28; 18.0 %). Montenegro recorded a relatively high share (12.4 %) of its total exports in 2017 from mineral fuels, lubricants and related goods, close to three times the equivalent share in the EU-28 (4.3 %) and was the only enlargement country to record a double-digit share. Bosnia and Herzegovina reported the lowest share of total exports from food, drinks and tobacco among the enlargement countries, but its 7.0 % share was nevertheless just above the EU-28 average (6.6 %); note the EU-28 figure excludes intra-EU trade, which may be relatively important, especially for perishables. For Kosovo and Montenegro, the share of exports coming from raw materials was considerably higher than in the other enlargement countries and also at least 10 times as high as the equivalent share in the EU-28.

Machinery and vehicles, other manufactured goods as well as mineral fuels accounted for a high share of EU imports, while there was a higher propensity to import other manufactured goods in most of the enlargement countries

Machinery and vehicles (32.4 %), other manufactured products (26.3 %) and mineral fuels (15.5 %) accounted for the highest shares of goods imported into the EU-28 in 2016; the next most common group of goods was chemicals (10.8 %). As for exports, the category of other manufactured goods generally accounted for the highest share of total imports among the enlargement countries (see Table 4), these products generally accounting for around three tenths to two fifths of total imports in 2017. There were two exceptions: in Turkey the share of other manufactured goods was relatively low (21.1 %), while the share of imports of machinery and vehicles (30.5 %) was much higher; in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia the imports of other manufactured goods accounted for a particularly high share of imports, at 44.2 %.

Table 4: Imports by broad group of goods, 2017
(% of total imports)
Source: Eurostat (ext_lt_intertrd) and (ext_lt_intercc)

Trade between the enlargement countries and the EU-28

Due to its close geographic proximity, it is not surprising to find that the EU-28 is one of the main trading partners of the enlargement countries. Figure 1 shows the relative importance of the EU-28 as a trading partner to the enlargement countries in 2017, with approximately four fifths of all goods exported from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and three quarters of all exports leaving Albania destined for the EU-28, with Bosnia and Herzegovina recording a slightly smaller share (71.0 %). Two thirds of the exported goods from Serbia were destined for the EU-28, as were close to half of exports from Turkey and more than one third of exports from Montenegro. Kosovo saw exports to the EU-28 account for nearer to one quarter of its total value of exported goods.

Figure 1: International trade in goods with the EU-28, 2017
(% share of total exports and imports)
Source: Eurostat (ext_lt_intercc)

In 2017, around three fifths of all imported goods that arrived in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia originated from the EU-28. These four countries had the highest propensity for importing goods from the EU-28, while nearer to half of all imports into Montenegro originated in the EU-28, as did around two fifths into Kosovo and Turkey.

Table 5 provides more detailed information on the development of international trade flows of goods between the EU-28 and the enlargement countries between the years 2007, 2012 and 2017. It confirms that Turkey had, by far, the largest trade deficit for goods with the EU-28, at EUR 9.9 billion in 2017; Turkey’s deficit for the latest period available was less than half what it had been in 2012. The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina also recorded a narrower trade deficit with the EU-28 in 2017 than in 2012, while in Montenegro, Albania and Kosovo the deficit for trade in goods widened over the same period.

Table 5: Trade in goods with the EU-28, 2007, 2012 and 2017
(million EUR)
Source: Eurostat (ext_lt_intercc)

An alternative measure for analysing the development of trading patterns between the EU-28 and the enlargement countries is shown in Figure 2. The cover ratio is calculated by dividing the value of exports from the enlargement countries and destined for the EU-28 by the value of imports in the enlargement countries that originated from the EU-28; a ratio of 100 % is recorded when exports and imports are balanced (in other words, they have identical values). In 2017, the cover ratio for trade in goods between the enlargement countries and the EU-28 was consistently below 100 %, underlining that each of these countries ran a trade deficit with the EU-28. Kosovo and Montenegro recorded the lowest cover ratios among the enlargement countries for trade in goods with the EU-28 in 2017, at 7.2 % and 11.8 % respectively; in other words, the value of goods imported into Kosovo and originating in the EU-28 was approximately 14 times as high as the value of exports leaving Kosovo and destined for the EU-28. The highest cover ratios among the enlargement countries for trade in goods with the EU-28 in 2017 were recorded in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia, at 94.6 % and 93.9 %, while ratios above 50 % were recorded in the other enlargement countries.

Figure 2: Cover ratio for trade in goods with the EU-28, 2007 and 2017
(%)
Source: Eurostat (ext_lt_intercc)

The cover ratio for trade in goods between Montenegro and the EU-28 decreased from 31.3 % in 2007 to 11.8 % in 2017, reflecting the widening of the trade deficit as exports to the EU-28 fell and imports increased. Smaller falls in the cover ratio were observed in Kosovo and Turkey. By contrast, the cover ratio for the other enlargement countries rose over the period 2007-2017 (2008-2017 for Bosnia and Herzegovina), most notably in Albania and Serbia.

Source data for tables and graphs

Enlargement countries — international trade in goods: tables and figures

Data sources

International trade statistics track the value and quantity of goods traded between countries for imports, exports and the trade balance. All statistics presented in this article as monetary values are based on current price series. Traditionally, customs records were the main source of statistical data on international trade. Following the launching of the Single Market on 1 January 1993, customs formalities between EU Member States were removed, and so a new data collection system, Intrastat, was set up for intra-EU trade. In the Intrastat system, intra-EU trade data are collected directly from trade operators, which send a monthly declaration to the relevant national statistical authorities. The data presented in this article for the EU-28 and the enlargement countries come from the Comext database Eurostat’s international trade database)

Eurostat collects statistical information on international trade developments with respect to the enlargement countries; these data are used by the European Commission to prepare annual strategy documents detailing policy developments for EU enlargement countries as well as reports on political and economic developments in enlargement countries.

In general, data concerning subjects other than international trade in goods, national accounts and population, are collected for a wide range of indicators each year through a questionnaire that is sent by Eurostat to partner countries which have either the status of being candidate countries or potential candidates. A network of contacts in each country has been established for updating these questionnaires, generally within the national statistical offices, but potentially including representatives of other data-producing organisations (for example, central banks or government ministries). The statistics collected in this way are made available free-of-charge on Eurostat’s website.

Tables in this article use the following notation:

Value in italics	data value is forecasted, provisional or estimated and is therefore likely to change;
:	not available.

Context

The EU has a common international trade policy, often referred to as the common commercial policy. In other words, the EU acts as a single entity on trade issues, including issues related to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). In these cases, the European Commission negotiates trade agreements and represents Europe’s interests on behalf of the EU Member States.

The economic impact of globalisation has had a considerable effect on international trade, as well as financial flows. The EU seeks to promote the development of free-trade as an instrument for stimulating economic growth and enhancing competitiveness. International trade statistics are of prime importance for both public sector (decision makers nationally, within the EU and internationally) and private users (in particular, businesses who wish to analyse export market opportunities), as they provide valuable information on developments regarding the exchange of goods between specific geographical areas.

While basic principles and institutional frameworks for producing statistics are already in place, the enlargement countries are expected to increase progressively the volume and quality of their data and to transmit these data to Eurostat in the context of the EU enlargement process. EU standards in the field of statistics require the existence of a statistical infrastructure based on principles such as professional independence, impartiality, relevance, confidentiality of individual data and easy access to official statistics; they cover methodology, classifications and standards for production.

Eurostat has the responsibility to ensure that statistical production of the enlargement countries complies with the EU acquis in the field of statistics. To do so, Eurostat supports the national statistical offices and other producers of official statistics through a range of initiatives, such as pilot surveys, training courses, traineeships, study visits, workshops and seminars, and participation in meetings within the European statistical system (ESS). The ultimate goal is the provision of harmonised, high-quality data that conforms to European and international standards.

Additional information on statistical cooperation with the enlargement countries is provided here.

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Notes

↑ This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

[1] This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

[1]