Archive:Western Balkans-EU - international trade in goods statistics

Data extracted in April 2020.

Planned article update: May 2021.

Highlights

The EU was the main partner of the Western Balkans, for both exports (68 %) and imports (61 %) in 2019.

In 2019, manufactured goods made up 76 % of EU exports and 81 % of EU imports from the Western Balkans.

Imports, exports and trade balance between the EU and the Western Balkans, 2009-2019

This article provides a picture of the international trade in goods between the European Union (EU) and the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Kosovo*. It analyses the type of goods exchanged between them and the shares of each EU Member State in those exchanges.

This article is part of an online publication providing recent statistics on international trade in goods, covering information on the EU's main partners, main products traded, specific characteristics of trade as well as background information.

Full article

The Western Balkans trade with the EU and other main partners

Figure 1 shows the main trading partners of the Western Balkans. The EU is the main partner both in exports (68 %) and imports (61 %), while trade among the Western Balkans takes second place in exports (20 %) and third place in imports (10 %). China is an important import partner (10 %) for the Western Balkans but has a small share in their exports (2 %).

Figure 1: Main trade in goods partners of the Western Balkans, 2019
(%)
Source: Eurostat - Comext DS-056697

Figure 2 shows that the EU has had a continuous trade surplus with the Western Balkans. It peaked at EUR 9.8 billion in 2012 and had a low of EUR 7.5 billion in 2016. Between 2009 and 2019 exports to and imports from the Western Balkans both increased by EUR 15.5 billion and thus the trade balance remained at EUR 9.0 billion.

Figure 2: EU-27 trade with the Western Balkans, 2009-2019
(EUR billion)
Source: Eurostat - Comext DS-018995

Manufactured goods dominate trade with the Western Balkans

Figures 3 and 4 show the exports to and imports from the Western Balkans by product group. The red colours show primary goods: Food and drink, raw materials and energy. Blue colours show manufactured goods: chemicals, machinery and vehicles. In 2019 manufactured goods made up 75.7 % of exports to and 81.2 % of imports from the Western Balkans.

In exports, other manufactured goods (31.6 %) had the largest share, followed by machinery and vehicles (29.9 %) and chemicals (14.3 %). For the primary products, the shares of food and drink (10.7 %) and energy (10.3 %) were almost equal, while raw materials (2.5 %) had only a small share.

Figure 3: EU-27 exports to the Western Balkans by main groups, 2019
(shares of total exports in value)
Source: Eurostat - Comext DS-018995

In imports the top spot for other manufactured goods (39.8 %) was even clearer. As in exports, machinery and vehicles (29.7 %) and chemicals (11.7 %) followed. For the primary products, the shares were fairly close to each other: food and drink (7.5 %) led, followed by energy (5.5 %) and raw materials (5.1 %).

Figure 4: EU-27 imports from the Western Balkans by main groups, 2019
(shares of total imports in value)
Source: Eurostat - Comext DS-018995

Serbia is the largest trade partner of the EU in the Western Balkans

Figure 5 shows that Serbia accounts for almost half of the total EU exports to the Western Balkans. The growth of Serbia's exports between 2009 and 2019 in absolute terms was the largest of the six partners in the Western Balkans, while its average annual growth rate (8.1 %) was second highest, behind that of the North Macedonia (8.3 %) but in front of Kosovo (7.6 %), Montenegro (5.9 %), Bosnia-Herzegovina (4.9 %) and Albania (4.2 %).

Figure 5: EU-27 exports to the Western Balkans, 2009-2019
(EUR billion)
Source: Eurostat - Comext DS-018995

Figure 6 shows that Serbia is also the main import partner for the EU, again with almost half of total imports from the Western Balkans. Between 2009 and 2019, the average annual growth rate of Serbia's imports (12.9 %) was only surpassed by those of North Macedonia (14.9 %). Imports from Albania (11.0 %), Bosnia-Herzegovina (8.6 %) and Kosovo (5.2 %) also grew while EU imports from Montenegro fell slightly (-0.6 %).

Figure 6: EU-27 imports from the Western Balkans, 2009-2019
(EUR billion)
Source: Eurostat - Comext DS-018995

In 2019, the EU had a trade surplus with five of the six partners in the Western Balkans (Figure 7). With North Macedonia, the EU's surplus of EUR 0.8 billion in 2009 turned into a deficit EUR 0.4 billion in 2019. The surplus was highest in Serbia (EUR 3.9 billion). The largest increase of the surpluses was with Kosovo from EUR 0.5 billion in 2009 to EUR 1.2 billion in 2019.

Figure 7: EU-27 trade balance with the Western Balkans, 2009-2019
(EUR billion)
Source: Eurostat - Comext DS-018995

The Western Balkans are important trade partners for Croatia

Table 1 shows the exports to the Western Balkans by Member State. There were three Member States whose exports were above EUR 3 billion: Germany (EUR 5.7 billion), Italy (4.4 billion) and Slovenia (3.1 billion). For Germany (0.9 %) and Italy (1.9 %) these exports were only a small percentage of their total exports to countries outside the EU but for Slovenia this was 28 %. The share was even higher in Croatia (54 %). Estonia (11.8 %), Hungary (11.7 %) and Bulgaria (11.5 %) were the only other Member States where the share was above 10 %.

Table 1: Exports to the Western Balkans by Member State, 2019
(EUR million and %)
Source: Eurostat - Comext DS-018995

Table 2 shows that the three largest exporters to the Western Balkans were also the largest importers from them. Again, for Germany (1.4 %, EUR 5.8 billion) and Italy (1.9 %, EUR 3.6 billion) the shares in total extra-EU trade were small. For Slovenia (13.6 %, EUR 2.0 billion) the share was more substantial, although not as high as the 28.1 % for Croatia.

Table 2: Imports from the Western Balkans by Member State, 2019
(EUR million and %)
Source: Eurostat - Comext DS-018995

Figure 8 shows that six countries (Sweden, Germany, Lithuania, Cyprus, Malta and Ireland) had a trade deficit with the Western Balkans. Only Estonia, Croatia (both EUR 1.3 billion), Hungary (EUR 1.2 billion) and Slovenia (EUR 1.1 billion) had trade surpluses of more than EUR 1 billion.

Figure 8: Trade balance with the Western Balkans by Member State, 2019
(EUR million)
Source: Eurostat - Comext DS-018995

Source data for tables and graphs

Trade EU27 with the Western Balkans

Data sources

EU data is taken from Eurostat's COMEXT database. COMEXT is the reference database for international trade in goods. It provides access not only to both recent and historical data from the EU Member States but also to statistics of a significant number of third countries. International trade aggregated and detailed statistics disseminated via the Eurostat website are compiled from COMEXT data according to a monthly process.

Data are collected by the competent national authorities of the Member States and compiled according to a harmonised methodology established by EU regulations before transmission to Eurostat. For extra-EU trade, the statistical information is mainly provided by the traders on the basis of customs declarations.

EU data are compiled according to Community guidelines and may, therefore, differ from national data published by the Member States. Statistics on extra-EU trade are calculated as the sum of trade of each of the 27 EU Member States with countries outside the EU. In other words, the EU is considered as a single trading entity and trade flows are measured into and out of the area, but not within it.

Methodology According to the EU concepts and definitions, extra-EU trade statistics (trade between EU Member States and non-EU countries) do not record exchanges involving goods in transit, placed in a customs warehouse or given temporary admission (for trade fairs, temporary exhibitions, tests, etc.). This is known as ‘special trade’. The partner is the country of final destination of the goods for exports and the country of origin for imports.

Product classification Information on commodities exported and imported is presented according to the Standard international trade classification (SITC). A full description is available from Eurostat’s classification server RAMON.

Unit of measure Trade values are expressed in millions or billions (10⁹) of euros. They correspond to the statistical value, i.e. to the amount which would be invoiced in case of sale or purchase at the national border of the reporting country. It is called a FOB value (free on board) for exports and a CIF value (cost, insurance, freight) for imports.

Context

Trade is an important indicator of Europe’s prosperity and place in the world. The block is deeply integrated into global markets both for the products it sources and the exports it sells. The EU trade policy is an important element of the external dimension of the ‘Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth’ and is one of the main pillars of the EU’s relations with the rest of the world.

Because the 27 EU Member States share a single market and a single external border, they also have a single trade policy. EU Member States speak and negotiate collectively, both in the World Trade Organization, where the rules of international trade are agreed and enforced, and with individual trading partners. This common policy enables them to speak with one voice in trade negotiations, maximising their impact in such negotiations. This is even more important in a globalised world in which economies tend to cluster together in regional groups.

The openness of the EU’s trade regime has meant that the EU is the biggest player on the global trading scene and remains a good region to do business with. Thanks to the ease of modern transport and communications, it is now easier to produce, buy and sell goods around the world which gives European companies of every size the potential to trade outside Europe.

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.