Production and Trade of Honey in Selected European Countries: Serbia, Romania and Italy

Abstract

The beekeeping sector is very complex, because of not onlythe diversity of bee products obtained but also the environmental services through pollination. Even if its direct impact on domestic economy and trade varies across countries, at micro-level, beekeeping creates well-being for communities, providing health products for population and decent revenues for farmers. It also supports the sustainability of rural livelihoods. In this context, the research subject is the analysis of production and trade of honey in three European Union Countries—Romania, Italy and Serbia—with a goal to consider the dynamic of supply and trade of honey and deduce potential opportunities for producers. The goal of the study is to draw implication from the results obtained, suggesting the concrete measures to improve the existing situation. Trade data are examined to get a picture of honey sector trends. An entire set of trade indicators related to honey were computed over the period 2006–2015 and are presented in the chapter: value, amount, growth rate and geographic structure of export and import in the world and in selected countries for which the level of comparative advantages of exported honey was also measured using the Balassa index.