Determinants of the imports of essential medical products by European Union
The rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a marked distortion in the trade of medical products needed to combat its severe effects on the health of infected individuals. This study sought to examine the determinants of imports by the 27 countries of the European Union (EU-27), through a panel data analysis for the period 2015 – 2020. The aim is to shed light on the distinct behavior of imports of each of the seven products classified as essential by the World Customs Organization and the World Health Organization. To that end, economic and social characteristics of the buyer country were treated as explanatory variables, along with the origin of the goods and the effect of the virus in 2020. The results showed that several determinants of imports of medical goods have a homogeneous influence on all of these products. This is also in line with gross domestic product per capita and population, which showed positive and significant coefficients for all products. The level of wealth of a country reflects its purchasing power, and thus capacity to purchase essential goods. Furthermore, an aged population in a territory is indicative of the greater need for essential medical products, which was amplified in 2020 due to the high vulnerability of this group to the symptoms of the virus. The present study confirmed that EU-27 trade agreements curbed the mass entry of non-EU products and that COVID-19 pandemic increased imports of certain products.
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