IMF Staff Country Reports

This Selected Issues paper analyzes export competitiveness in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYR Macedonia). Export performance in FYR Macedonia has been strong over the last decade, critically contributing to overall growth. Exports have been re-oriented toward new products with higher technological content, allowing for the build-up of revealed comparative advantages in these products. The analysis based on Constant Market Share analysis shows that the overall competitiveness gap of FYR Macedonia with respect to other emerging European countries has narrowed. There appears to be significant room for quality improvement, including for the most successful export products. Although the contribution of exports to GDP growth has been significant, spillover into the domestic tradable sector from the foreign investment led export sector remains limited so far.