The influence of Croatia's accession to the European Union on the foreign trade balance

Vanjskotrgovinska razmjena predstavlja sveukupnu robnu razmjenu neke zemlje sa inozemstvom. Vanjskotrgovinska razmjena ima velik utjecaj na razvoj gospodarstva neke zemlje. Hrvatska je mala zemlja velikih resursa, no Hrvatska ne iskorištava u cijelosti svoje resurse. Izvoz je vrlo važan za jačanje konkurentnosti na domaćem tržištu, a kada bi se udio u izvozu doveo na višu razinu, tada bi se ubrzao rast i razvoj gospodarstva Republike Hrvatske. Prije nego što je Hrvatska pristupila Europskoj uniji, izvoz je imao kontinuirani rast, premda je s godinama počeo usporavati. Nakon pristupanja Hrvatske u Europsku uniju, dogodio se značajniji porast u vanjskotrgovinskoj razmjeni. Izvoz je rastao po većoj stopi nego uvoz, a time je porasla i stopa pokrivenosti uvoza izvozom što potvrđuju i prikazani podaci u radu.Foreign trade is the overall trade of a country with foreign countries. Foreign trade has a great influence on the development of a country's econoomy. Croatia is a small country with largere sources, but Croatia does not make full use of its resources. Exports are very important for strengthening copetitiveness in the domestic market, and if the share of exports were brought to a more positive level , then the growth and development of the economy of the Republic of Croatia would accelerate. Before Croatia joined the European Union, exports grew steadily, altough they began to slow down over the years. After Croatia's accession to the European Union, there was a significant increase in foreign trade. Exports grew at a higher rate than imports, and thusthe rate of coverage of imports by exports increased, which is confirmed by the data presented in the paper