Sustainability Indicators and Foreign Trade Relationship: An Empirical Approach on Turkish Economy

The sustainable and efficient use of natural resources, prevention of environmental degradation, and human capital components such as education are critically important for both the preservation of ecological balance and the sustainability of regional development. Enhancing the level of education increases environmental awareness and technological adaptability, thereby facilitating the integration of green economy practices into development policies. This study analyzes the effects of sustainability indicators—representing environmental (carbon dioxide emissions), social (expected years of schooling), and economic (per capita income) dimensions—on Turkey’s foreign trade. Annual data covering the period from 1996 to 2022 were used for the analysis. First, unit root tests were applied, and all variables were found to be stationary at first difference. Subsequently, the Johansen cointegration test, FMOLS and DOLS method were employed to examine long-term relationships. The results show that the variables are cointegrated and that carbon dioxide emissions, expected years of schooling and per capita income have positive effects on both exports and imports in the long run. In addition, it was determined that expected years of schooling have the highest effect level in the export model and carbon dioxide emissions in the import model as a result of the two estimators.