Trends in the revealed comparative advantages of the EU member states

Abstract

Today, more and more countries incorporated into international trade are causing higher competition in the world market. The paper is focused on the sectoral structure of the European Union (EU) exports in the 2000-2015 period. The purpose of the paper is to identify the main sectors in which the EU member states are the most competitive and to find out changes in the sectoral structure of the EU exports which occurred in the monitored period. The trade analysis was carried out with regard to the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) index. The results of the analysis showed a different structure, as well as a number of Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) divisions, in which the EU member states achieved the RCA in their exports. While the differences in the number of sectors in which the EU member countries achieved the RCA were not found among the "old" and "new" EU member states, they were obvious among big and small EU member states. During the whole period, the largest number of SITC divisions with the RCA was recorded in Denmark, Spain and Italy. The export of Cork and wood manufactures (SITC 63) recorded the RCA in 17 member states of the EU was the most competitive sector in the EU export during the whole period.