Foreign Trade Statistics Research Articles

The Role of Foreign Economic Relations in the Economies of Developing Countries Using the Example of Afghanistan

This article examines the role of foreign economic relations in the economies of developing countries using the example of Afghanistan. The author presents a detailed analysis of Afghanistan’s foreign trade statistics from 2010 to 2022, highlighting trends and signifi cant changes in the country’s exports and imports. The article pays attention to the main positions of Afghanistan’s exports and imports, indicating their importance and contribution to the economic development of the country. In particular, areas such as petroleum products, services, cereals and products of the fl our and cereal industry, as well as food products and ferrous metals and products made from them are considered. Particular attention is paid to Afghanistan’s main trading partners, establishing their role and contribution to the country’s foreign economic activity. The article highlights that India, Pakistan and China are key export destinations where India holds a leading position. These data indicate the diversity of markets for Afghan products and create opportunities for developing trade relations with various regions. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of foreign economic relations for the economic development of Afghanistan and its potential in international markets. Foreign trade is a significant factor in attracting investment, developing economic sectors and improving the standard of living of the population of Afghanistan. The presented analysis of statistical data allows us to draw a conclusion about the need to strengthen and expand foreign economic relations for the further development of the country.

Ռուսաստանի կայուն առևտուրն անկայուն աշխարհում / STABLE TRADE OF RUSSIA IN AN UNSTABLE WORLD

Currently, Russia holds the top position globally in terms of the number of sanctions imposed on the country. Over the past two years, the increasing number of restrictions imposed by Western countries has been aimed at isolating the Russian economy from global markets, with the intention of ending the war by causing economic hardship. Immediately after the start of the war, the country's authorities ceased regular publication of foreign trade statistics to avoid inaccurate assessments and speculation. The paper , attempted to analyze Russia's foreign trade activity over the past two years using mirror data from partner countries, as well as aggregated official statistics from the Russian Federation. Due to the sanctions, the Russian economy experienced notable declines, especially following the embargo placed on crude oil and petroleum products in 2023. Yet, they are far from the expectations of Western countries. On the one hand, Russian companies find ways to circumvent the sanctions, on the other hand, trade also shifts towards markets of "friendly" countries.

Технологический суверенитет России: понятие, измерение, возможность достижения

Geopolitical tensions, sanction conflicts, and efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic are amplifying the trends of deglobalization in the global economy. In response, governments of various nations and regional alliances have initiated comprehensive programs aimed at revitalizing their domestic industries and bolstering their technological independence. Despite the widespread pursuit of technological sovereignty as a strategic objective in government policies, this concept remains somewhat ambiguous and lacks clear criteria for measurement. In the contemporary context, technological sovereignty extends beyond just the development of technology; it encompasses the deployment of these technologies within national enterprises and the subsequent production of competitive goods, at the very least for domestic markets. The various methods for assessing the level of technological sovereignty can be categorized into three groups: composite indices, multi-criteria evaluations without aggregation, and individual indicators. Composite indices often face challenges when combining diverse metrics, while simpler indicators, such as foreign trade statistics or patent activity, only capture specific facets of the evaluation. Multi-criteria approach without aggregation appear to offer a more objective assessment. This study conducted a dynamic analysis of the balance between domestically sourced and imported advanced production technologies utilized by Russian enterprises, examining the share of foreign value-added in final consumption and the proportion of domestically manufactured products in the market across major sectors of the Russian manufacturing industry. The results of these calculations indicate indications of strengthening technological sovereignty, particularly in the pharmaceutical and metallurgical sectors. Sectors with relatively lower levels of technological sovereignty include machinery manufacturing, electronics, and the textile industry.

L comercio exterior del Ecuador, 1890-1950

At the end of the 19th century, Ecuador was integrated into international markets through esports of cocoa. In the mid-twentieth century, bananas became the most important product in Ecuadorian export basket. In this period, Ecuador’s foreign trade operations were subject to dynamics that deserve discussion. From a descriptive perspective, this paper analyzes several elements of Ecuadorian foreign trade: the reliability of local foreign trade statistics registered by Ecuador, its exportable supply, the behavior of imports and, finally, the geographical composition of the foreign trade flows of this small and open economy.

Vote for aid? How economic interaction with the United States affects countries’ voting patterns at the UN General Assembly

The article investigates how the dynamics of economic aid from the United States and its trade and investment relations with a country affect the latter’s voting solidarity at the United Nations General Assembly. First, the approaches of Democrats and Republicans to financing the UN in connection with voting in the General Assembly are delineated. It is worth noting that Democrats tend to support multilateral institutions and policies, while Republicans have historically favored unilateral foreign policy. Still, both parties consistently prioritize allocating the U.S. funding for the United Nations to certain countries. The author uses data on financial flows directed toward multilateral institutions, along with other U.S. bilateral foreign aid, trade, and investment statistics, to explore whether economic interconnectivity affects the degree of the UN member states’ solidarity with the United States’ voting patterns at the General Assembly. It is concluded that economic relations with the United States do not significantly determine the increase in voting solidarity at the General Assembly. A group of 58 states is identified that, over a 25-year period (from 1996 to 2021), displayed a growing alignment with the United States in situations where it voted differently from the majority of other UN members. However, the increase in aid, trade, and investments from the United States to this group is primarily driven just by 13 major U.S. economic partners and aid recipients. Remarkably, the voting behavior of this select group of 13 states mirrors that of the remaining members of this focus group of 58 states.

PERBANDINGAN REALISASI NILAI EKSPOR PROVINSI ACEH BERDASARKAN PENGELOMPOKKAN NEGARA TUJUAN SEBELUM DAN MASA PANDEMI COVID-19

This study aims to group the export destination countries of Aceh Province into 3 categories, namely low, medium and high using the Kmeans clustering method to compare the realization of export values before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data employed were secondary data on the export value of Aceh Province to 38 destination countries in 2019 and 2020 which is sourced from the Foreign Trade Statistics of Aceh Province. The results showed a decrease in the average realized export value of Aceh Province during the COVID-19 pandemic. The export value from Aceh Province decreased in 22 countries (57.9%) during the pandemic. The K-means clustering analysis shows that most export destination countries for the Province of Aceh in 2019 and 2020 have low export value realizations. When compared to 2019, the only country that experienced a change in the export value category was Thailand, namely from the low category (cluster 3) to the medium category (cluster 2) during the pandemic. The Aceh government needs to make proactive efforts to increase the realization of export value, for example through adding variety to export commodities, providing subsidies and awards to local exporters and increasing the promotion of the potential of Aceh's resources to the international community.

Şapka İnkılabının Sosyo-Ekonomik Yönleri: Şapka İthalatı, Yerli Üretim ve Halka Yansımaları

Şapka İnkılabı, birçok çalışmaya konu olmuş, ancak iktisadi açıdan ihmal edilmiştir. Buradan hareketle bu çalışmada zengin iktisadi veriler ışığında inkılabın sosyo-ekonomik yönleri ele alınacaktır. Şapka ihtiyacı büyük ölçüde ithalat yoluyla karşılandı. Şapka en çok İtalya ve Fransa’dan ithal edildi. 1923-1933 Dış Ticaret İstatistikleri fes ithalatının yerine geçen şapkanın toplam ithalat içindeki payının birkaç yıl içinde çok düşük bir seviyeye indiğini göstermektedir. Üstelik yerli üretimin, şapka temininde, giderek ithalatın yerini aldığı görülmektedir. 1929 Dünya Ekonomik Buhranı ve Gümrük Tarife Kanunu’nun şapka ithalatına etkileri ise sınırlı oldu. Şapka devlete ciddi anlamda bir yük getirmedi. Hayat pahalılığı endeksi, memur maaşları ve şapka fiyatları verileri asıl yükü halkın çektiğini göstermektedir. Hükûmet bu durumu dikkate alarak memurlara bir yıl sonra geri ödenmesi şartıyla şapka avansı vermiştir. Dönemin ekonomik koşulları halka böyle bir ödenek çıkarılmasına olanak vermemiştir.

Trade Data Falsification and Informal Capita Movement: A Study of Bangladesh with Major Asian Trade Partners

The imposition of restrictive trade policies and consequent fabrication of foreign trade statistics acts as hindrance for effective policy formulations in the developing countries. This article presents the trade misreporting scenario of Bangladesh in relation to major Asian trade partner countries (China, India and Singapore) between 1973 and 2018 and examines the possibilities of informal capital movements across borders. Using the vector autoregression (VAR) and autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) models, we first build partner-level exercise, followed by a combined panel, and find that spot and forward exchange rates, custom duties and real interest rate differences between foreign and home largely affect trade misreporting rates. Interestingly, we also find that the values of past import under-invoicing might also lead to export under-invoicing and vice versa, a two-way causal relationship. JEL Codes: F14, F68, C10, C52

Discerning the circularity of the plastic industry in Bangladesh through the lens of material flow analysis

This study performs the first national plastic material flow analysis (MFA) of Bangladesh to obtain essential information for developing the roadmap for circular economy. It quantified plastic flows for the fiscal year (FY) 2019–2020 by circumventing data deficiencies through innovative methodical approach and an improvised coupling of primary data from extensive field surveys and historical foreign trade statistics. In FY2019–2020, Bangladesh exported only 22 % of its total annual plastic import of 1,710,296 metric tons. The packaging sector consumed the highest 937,242 metric tons (48 % of the domestic consumption). Per capita consumption and waste generation were 10.13 kg and 7.9 kg, respectively, leading to plastic use intensity of 7.94 g per 2010US$ GDP in FY2019–2020, indicating an active materialization phase and growth. Bangladesh recycled 362,332 metric tons of plastic a year, 90 % of which was done by the country's robust informal sector, leading to a better recycling efficiency (28 %) compared to developed countries. Bangladesh also fared better in plastic decoupling, with a decoupling factor of 21 compared to the average of 13 for its developed counterparts. Scenario-based forecast indicated a maximum of nearly 6 million metric tons of potential imports in FY2029–2030 for the business-as-usual scenario. The plastic industry exhibited better performance than many countries despite poor institutional capacity and lack of policy support by leveraging the informal and semi-formal sectors. Policy insights particularly on improving waste management by the informal sector, community awareness and stakeholder engagement, improving manufacturing processes and technologies may significantly contribute to circularizing plastic use in Bangladesh to achieve SDG12 targets.

Foreign investments and tariff protection revisited: correcting the trade balance of the Russian Empire, 1880–1913

Abstract This article examines the accuracy of Russian foreign trade statistics between 1880 and 1913 and provides empirical evidence that prior to the introduction of the gold standard in 1897, Russia’s trade surplus was systematically understated. My novel trade data suggest a higher degree of protectionism with an increase of an ad valorem equivalent tariff up to 4 percentage points. Moreover, my corrections of the current account balance reduce the annual average deficit of the balance for 1885–1897 by 67 percent, supporting the idea that there was a substantial increase of foreign investments in the post-gold standard period in Russia.

Factors in The Development of Construction in The Russian Federation in 1992–2019 (or a Story About Unsuitable Russian Economic Statistics)

The article analyzes the factors in the development of the construction industry in 1992–2019. This analysis is important not only for understanding the nature of the development of the Russian economy during this period, but also for determining the prospects for its development. The factors are difficult to analyze because the statistics of the construction industry in the post-Soviet period (as well as in the Soviet period) was the most inaccurate among the statistics of all other branches of material production. Therefore, much attention is drawn to determining the actual volume and the dynamics of all general indicators in the building statistics. In some cases, it is inevitable to use indicators of official statistics. Since the reliability of individual indicators is doubtful, where applicable, it is necessary to rely on the indicators related to macroeconomic statistics and other sectors of the economy, including foreign trade statistics. The errors are identified in the use of official statistics related to the volume and structure of capital investments in construction, price policy in construction, and to the system of national accounts. An alternative assessment is determined for the volume and dynamics of building production and labor productivity, capital-labor ratio for the whole period and for individual subperiods. Much attention is paid to determining the actual financial conditions of the construction industry. This analysis makes it possible to identify a much larger reduction in the volume of production and labor productivity in construction than according to official statistics. The author emphasizes the need for a radical improvement in the quality of official economic statistics in order to provide scientific research with reliable data and to develop a sound economic policy. The author has come to the conclusion that based on the current state of construction, the industry tends to grow in the coming years. However, it is utterly insufficient to provide multiple growth of capital investments required for the modernization of the economy.

The Role of the Trans-Siberian Railway in Supplying of the Far Eastern Region in 1903-1913: a Comparative Analysis of Foreign Trade and Transport Statistics

The article is devoted to the role of the Trans-Siberian Railway in the freight supplying of the Russian Far East in 1903–1913 (since the commissioning of its last section through Manchuria along the CER). Methodologically, the article is based on a comparison of various sources: customs, port, railway statistics, reports of the Dobrovolny flot (Voluntary Fleet), etc. It is concluded that the sources do generally provide a possibility to conduct a study in the period under review, and it can be based on different tables from the foreign trade yearbooks and railway statistics on transportation to the Ussuri railroad. The statistics are considered in two ways: 1) "import - transportation from Russia" and "by sea - by the railroad". This allows us to draw conclusions about where the goods mainly came from and how they got to the local market. Comparative statistics are built for the most important categories of goods: cereals, sugar, fuel, timber, metals, textile, etc. A comparison of the freight transportation by the railroad and by sea showed that, at least until 1909, the railroad supply was not significant, but began to grow later, when the railway transportation to the region helped to reduce the share of imports, especially in terms of supplying textiles and some categories of metal goods.

Assessment of Nigeria’s Economic Sectors Through the Input-Output Model

This study established the contribution effect of the input-output model in studying the interconnectedness of industries in Nigeria’s economy, with the aim of channelling resources and policy framework to building industries with strong backward and forward linkages that can spur and stimulate industrial growth. The data was sourced from the NBS database of production statistics, labour statistics, and foreign trade statistics, as well as administrative, enterprise, and household surveys. The entire productive sector was aggregated into thirteen sectors with similar features and according to international industrial standard classification. The table constructed shows that the coefficient values have changed over the years since the last review. There are indications of slight positive changes in innovation, technology, and business activities that have sprouted up over the years. Furthermore, there were no negative values in the entire production matrix. The results of the impact analysis show that electricity and water have a strong production linkage and their positive impacts cut across income, value-added, and with a relatively lower impact on job creation from direct, indirect, and induced effects. It is undeniably one of the economy's major driving sectors, while agriculture, lodging and food service, transportation and storage, professional, arts, administrative, and public sectors (labour-intensive sectors) are at the forefront of employment and income generation. The manufacturing industry contributes less to per capita income and employment. This is a signal that the nation is still lacking behind in terms of industrial development, which is the key or bedrock of development and employment generation in developed nations of the world.

COMPOSITION AND DIRECTION OF FOREIGN TRADE OF NEPAL

Foreign trade is the exchange of capital, goods and services across the international borders or territories. The study is based on the objective to study and analyze the composition and direction of foreign trade of Nepal. The study can be referred as a descriptive study which uses the secondary sources of information like annual report of Nepal foreign trade statistics and Nepal Rastra Bank. The data obtained were analyzed using simple statistical tools like percent, ratio and trend analysis was done using Ms Excel. The study finds Nepal’s top ten major exported commodities of the fiscal year 2075/76 and 2076/77 in which refined palm oil was found to be top exported commodity in terms of quantity and value. Similarly among Nepal’s top ten major imported commodities of the fiscal year 2075/76 and 2076/77 diesel was found to be the top imported commodity in terms of quantity and value. Study further analyze the trend of foreign trade which shows the imbalance of foreign trade of Nepal. Trend analysis of export and import shows the increasing trend of import and very slow (near to zero) increase of export from fiscal year 1990/91 to 2019/2020. This has created the problem of rapidly increasing trade deficit over the period. To solve this problem Nepal’s trading structure both in terms of commodities and destinations should be improved.

The beginnings of hops culture in Brazil

Hops are vital for brewing production and an important element in the relationship between Brazilian society and alcohol. From this background, we seek to trace the history of alcoholic beverages until the dominance of beer and the introduction of hops in Brazil. We collected our data and information from reports of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Foreign Trade Statistics System and the Magazine of the Imperial Fluminense Institute of Agriculture. The findings show a close relationship with Germany with its brewing and hop-growing tradition, in addition to the impact of hop processing on national and international trade and, more recently, the importance of producer organization.

Formation of a Sustainable Mechanism of Preferential VAT Taxation of Exports as Evidenced by the Russian Federation Practice

In this article we review the issues of applying a preferential value added tax (VAT) taxation regime on export transactions involving unlawful tax benefit claims and tax evasion. The main objective of this study is to supplement the theoretical and methodological foundations of transforming the system of indirect taxation of exports in the Russian Federation based on the analysis of legal precedents. We analyzed the foreign trade statistics for the Russian Federation and the volumes of export VAT; we also studied the court rulings in VAT-related tax disputes. Based on our analysis of the court cases, we discovered the main schemes of unlawful application of VAT preferences, such as “false exports”, introduction of additional layers of intermediaries, and use of agency services by exporting sellers. In addition, we formulated two problematic scenarios where bona fide transactions fall under the definition of such schemes. Specifically, these two scenarios include services contracts by foreign service providers that are reclassified by the tax authorities with an aim to challenge the offsetting of incoming VAT amounts and the specifics of applying VAT to transactions involving compensation-free transfer of goods to foreign legal entities. To minimize the number of tax disputes, we suggest that certain provisions of the Russian legislation are amended with more detail. The proposed innovations can positively affect international trade as they bring more easily understandable and stable conditions for the development of businesses engaged in cross-border service provisioning. At the same time, a reduction in the number of disputes based on the tax authorities’ subjective opinion of taxpayers’ activities would allow the tax authorities to concentrate on clearer and more objective criteria of tax compliance by Russian companies, thus simplifying tax administration in one of the domains of tax law.

High-end luxury wine demand and income inequality

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between income inequality and the demand for high-end luxury wine. The consumption of luxury goods has experienced dramatic growth since 2000 but inequality has been neglected by scholars working on luxury consumption. The exploratory research focuses on wine demand between 2000 and 2019 and analyzes the impact of income inequality among other factors, including gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and GDP growth. The authors want to discern whether highly unequal countries import more expensive wine when compared to countries with lower inequality.Design/methodology/approachThe authors prepared different data sets based on the year and the trade value of each country to compare the differences and commonalities. The regression models incorporate particular foreign trade statistics (average unit price of wine) as an objective variable and the Gini coefficients to measure the relation between the demand for high-end luxury wines and inequality as an explanatory variable. The models also incorporate other control variables such as economic and institutional conditions.FindingsThe analysis demonstrates a positive relationship between the unit price of imported wine and the level of income inequality of the importers. This research suggests that conspicuous consumption, as a means of social distinction, is a major driver of the luxury wine market. Other significant factors include GDP per capita and geographic proximity. However, countries with a high power distance and bad governance do not purchase more luxury wines than others. Hence, rather than the social acceptation of wealth and corruption, the consumption of luxury wines is driven by the levels of economic development and inequality.Originality/valueThis paper is exploratory research that discusses an underexplored issue: the impact of income inequality on the consumption of luxury goods such as high-end luxury wines. It contributes to the literature on wine consumption, luxury business and income and wealth inequalities. These fields are rarely approached together and the research emphasizes the potential offered by such a perspective.

Economic Security within the Limits of Economic Complexity

Introduction. The issues of ensuring economic security of regions (especially of those with a specific situation) taking into account the influence of economic complexity are a novel research problem. The development of regions, primarily the border ones, is determined by two divergent processes: growing economic complexity, determined by external constraints or opportunities, and economic security, associated with the internal potential and resources of the region. Based on the study conducted, the article reveals the features of the interconnection between economic security and economic complexity, the latter determining the innovative and technological limitations to the growth and development of territories. Materials and Methods. The author has conducted semantic analysis and thematic clustering of economic security using data from bibliographic and reference databases of publications in English (Web of Science) and in Russian (eLIBRARY.RU). The assessment of economic complexity was based on the conducted analysis of the UN Comtrade foreign trade statistics, that of economic security – on the official data published by Rosstat. Results. The author has identified the terminological connection between economic security and economic complexity, and has provided a theoretical representation of the relations and interdependence of these categories. The paper presents the methodological provisions for studying the economic security of border regions, taking into consideration the possibilities for increasing their economic complexity. Discussion and Conclusion. In the context of systemic constraints in the development of the region, economic security is largely determined by both the available internal potential and resources, and the possibilities of their use. However, the region gains new capabilities with the increase in its economic complexity, the latter also limiting its economic security. In fact, the choice of key areas for the structural transformation of the region’s economy depends on whether priority is given to maintaining the level of economic security or increasing economic complexity. The mechanism and criteria discussed in this paper, as well as the methodological provisions of such a choice, contribute to further development of the theory of economic security and economic complexity at the regional level and are of practical importance for regional governance.

La comercialización de petróleo entre México y Estados Unidos en el marco del Tratado de 1942

El objetivo del artículo es analizar la compraventa de petróleo y sus derivados entre México y Estados Unidos desde 1943 hasta 1950, mientras estuvo vigente el tratado comercial que ambos países firmaron a finales de 1942. En el texto identificamos los productos involucrados en dicho comercio, las condiciones en las que éste se desarrolló en el marco del tratado, cómo evolucionó su intercambio durante el periodo y si hubo cambios en la concentración comercial a raíz del acuerdo. Asimismo, explicamos el porqué de dicha trayectoria en función de las necesidades de las economías mexicana y estadounidense y, con base en este caso, valoramos las oportunidades y limitaciones que trajo consigo el tratado de 1942. El artículo se fundamenta en estadísticas mexicanas del Banco Nacional de Comercio Exterior y la Dirección General de Estadística, en documentación mexicana y estadounidense de la época, sobre todo de carácter diplomático, así como en bibliografía secundaria. Se trata del primer análisis que se emprende sobre el comercio petrolero de México con Estados Unidos durante los años cuarenta, pues la bibliografía sobre historia del petróleo se centra en la expropiación de 1938 y en las negociaciones diplomático políticas posteriores.

Актуальные направления и сферы сотрудничества России и Турции

The research of the scientific article is devoted to topical areas of trade and economic cooperation between Russia and Turkey. Problems were identified both in the implementation of mutual trade between the two countries and in the implementation of bilateral agreements. The main directions for increasing trade turnover and creating a favorable investment climate are identified. The volume of trade turnover is considered in the foreign trade statistics for the results of 2019 and the first half of 2020. The role of agreements signed at the level of heads of organizations and departments of the two countries that ensure the implementation of economic policy is revealed.