ASSESSMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND FOREIGN RELATIONS AS ILLUSTRATED BY THE CASE OF MERCOSUR MEMBER STATES

The aim of this paper is to assess the level of economic development and foreign relations of the countries forming the economic group Mercosur. Numerous economic indicators are used for the purpose of research and international comparisons. Most important are gross domestic product (GDP), national income, unemployment rate, inflation rate, foreign trade's and investments' share in GDP. Other measures, which are based on GDP, may be used for economic growth assessment. These are for example economy internationalization, activity level, openness and dependence and international competitiveness. After a brief introduction to the subject, the manner of calculating the indicators that are used for such an assessment more rarely is described. Then the indicators calculated for the current Mercosur member states are analysed.