The RESPECT Trade Similarity Index

We use detailed product-level trade data from Eurostat to construct a Trade Similarity Index for each Member State of the European Union and each third country. The Trade Similarity Index takes values between 0 and 1. A higher value indicates that the trade pattern of the Member State is more similar to the average of the European Union. A value of 0 means that there is no product overlap between the exports (or imports) of the Member State and the rest of the EU. A value of 1 means that the Member State exports (or imports) every product in the same proportion as the rest of the EU.