Export Competitiveness of Tobacco and Tobacco Products of the Republic of Serbia in the Period from 2014 to 2024

Abstract

The tobacco industry represents one of the industrial sectors that attracts the attention of scientific researchers, both due to its economic significance and its impact on human health. The focus of this paper is to determine the export competitiveness of tobacco and tobacco products of the Republic of Serbia in the period from 2014 to 2024. The relevant indicators of export competitiveness used in the analysis are the Revealed Comparative Advantages (RCA) index and the Lafay index. The analysis covers the trade of Serbian tobacco and tobacco products with the EU and CEFTA countries. The results differ depending on the applied indicator, given that the Lafay index incorporates both imports and exports in its calculation, whereas the RCA index excludes the impact of imports. In the observed period, the preliminary results indicate the existence of both comparative advantages and disadvantages in relation to the observed groups of countries; however, the results vary within the period and depending on the applied indicator of comparative advantage. The conclusion is that there is an expansion in the exports of Serbian tobacco and tobacco products, accompanied by the achievement of comparative advantage, but their presence changes over the years and depending on the indicators used.