The Impact of Trade Flows on Economic Development in the Black Sea region

Research carried out before shows that, although only exports contribute directly to GDP growth, the actual impact of imports on it is not necessarily negative. The increase in the value of imports shows an increase in demand in the domestic market, hence a better purchasing power and standard of living than in some of the exporting countries. Practice shows that many of the poor countries are dependent on exports, which usually consist in raw materials or products without much added value, while the most developed countries have negative trade balances.

The study involves the use of the least-squares method, in EVIEWS 12, to determine the relationship between the annual increase in the volume of foreign trade of the states in the Black Sea region and the annual increase in GDP, respectively the increase in GDP per capita, by estimating simple linear regressions, using annual data from the period of 1990-2021.

The research results show positive relationships between the mentioned indicators in the case of all the states analyzed, showing that even in the Black Sea region, although economies and societies have very diversified structures, often in competition or even in conflict, trade plays an important role for the economic growth, whether the trade balance of the analyzed state is positive or negative.