The EU in the International Trade in Goods of the Persian Gulf and Central Asia Regions

The article aims to determine the EU’s place in the international trade in goods of the Persian Gulf and Central Asian regions, which represent the rapidly growing parts of the Greater Middle East. The changes over the last decade of 2015-2024 have been tracked, the stability of the main export item, mineral fuel, has been revealed. The study deals with the calculations of the trade intensity index using data from the Trade Map and Eurostat statistical databases and the author’s methodology. The study showed, firstly, that the Arabian Six and the Central Asian five have similar significance for the EU as fuel exporters, and secondly, that the intensity of exports from the Persian Gulf to the EU lags behind expectations based on knowledge of their share in world trade, and from Central Asia to the EU significantly exceeds expectations. A quantitative assessment of the regions’ trade with the EU in dynamics in comparison with China and the Russian Federation helps to characterize both the successes in the European solvent market and the risks of dependence during the period of the EU’s implementation of the strategic autonomy idea. The author’s analysis is complemented by existing expert assessments of trade and economic relations with the EU and confirms the opinion about the ability of the two regions of the Greater Middle East to build an independent economic agenda.

foreign trade of goods, fuel exports, trade intensity index, European Union, Gulf Cooperation Council, Central Asian countries