The European Union registered a trade in goods surplus of €147 billion last year, a €113 billion increase on the previous year (€34 billion), new data from Eurostat has revealed.
According to the data, the EU has recorded a trade surplus every year except in 2022, when high energy prices led to a notable deficit. Trade surpluses in machinery, vehicles, and chemicals have consistently outweighed deficits from energy prices, Eurostat noted.
Chemicals and related products
Over the past decade, the chemicals and related products group has seen the largest increase, with its surplus growing from €119.1 billion in 2014 to €238.1 billion in 2024.
The food and drink sector has also recorded a notable surplus increase, rising from €33.5 billion in 2014 to €52.4 billion in 2024.
However, the other manufactured goods sector reported a deficit of €11.2 billion in 2024, compared to a surplus of €35.3 billion in 2014.
In 2024, imports to the EU decreased by 3.4% compared to the previous year, following a 16.1% year-on-year decrease in 2023. Exports increased slightly, by 1.1%, compared to 2023, after falling (-0.5%) the previous year.
Imports and exports to and from the European Union experienced a rebound in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic, the data also showed – in 2021, imports saw growth of 23.8%, while exports grew by 12.9%. In 2022, both imports (+41.6%) and exports (+17.9%) grew substantially, driven by rising prices.
Germany’s extra-EU trade
‘Among EU countries, Germany had by far the highest share of extra-EU trade in 2024, contributing 27.4% of the EU’s exports of goods to non-EU member countries and accounting for almost one-fifth (18.6%) of the EU’s imports,’ Eurostat noted.
‘The next three largest exporters, Italy (11.8%), France (10.6%) and the Netherlands (10.2%) were the only other EU countries with a double-digit share of EU exports. The Netherlands (17.8%), France (10.4%) and Italy (9.9%) followed Germany as the largest importers of goods from non-member countries in 2024.’ Read more here.
