World trade in goods and services - an overview

Data extracted in July 2023.

Planned article update: August 2024.

Highlights

In 2022, international trade in goods and services represented 25.0 % of the EU’s GDP.

The EU’s share of world exports of goods and services was 17.4 % in 2021 (this figure relates solely to extra-EU trade, not to trade within the EU).

Value of international trade in goods and services, selected countries, 2022
(€ billion)
Source: Eurostat (bop_eu6_q) and International Monetary Fund (Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Statistics)

Globalisation patterns in EU trade and investment is an online Eurostat publication presenting a summary of recent European Union (EU) statistics on economic aspects of globalisation, focusing on patterns of EU trade and investment.

Within the context of globalisation, increased levels of trade and cooperation can provide a stimulus to support continued economic development.

Economists tend to agree that ‘open’ economies grow at a faster pace than ‘closed’ ones: international trade has the potential to promote economic growth through increasing external demand for goods and services, while at the same time providing consumers with greater choice (and often lower prices), fostering efficiency and productivity gains, and supporting innovation. Enterprises and households are more likely to consume goods and services from an international partner if such transactions are free from tariffs and other trade barriers, thereby allowing goods and services to cross borders in a frictionless and efficient manner.

At a practical level, this means the European Union’s (EU’s) international trade policy has been designed around promoting reciprocal market opening and trade liberalisation, creating new opportunities for increased levels of trade (for both goods and services), investment, innovation and productivity growth.

Statistics on international trade in goods and services

The main methodological reference used for the production of statistics on international trade in goods and services is the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM6).

Full article

World exports of goods and services

World exports of goods and services (excluding intra-EU trade) increased from €15.9 trillion in 2020 (when it was particularly low due to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis) to €19.1 trillion in 2021

In 2019, the global value of exports of goods and services peaked at €18.1 trillion (or €18 100 billion). The impact of the COVID-19 crisis was apparent insofar as world exports of goods and services fell to €15.9 trillion in 2020 (down 12.1 % in current price terms). In 2021, exports rebounded, up 20.1 % to €19.1 trillion.

Trade levels continued to expand in 2022, although data for the whole world are (at the time of writing) not available. Fresher data are however available for the EU and for many individual countries. Figure 1 shows that the highest levels of trade in goods and services were recorded, unsurprisingly, in some of the biggest economies. The EU exported more goods and services in 2022 (€3.96 trillion) than any individual country and the EU also recorded the highest level of imports (€3.95 trillion), just ahead of the United States (€3.76 trillion).

The largest trade surplus for international trade in goods and services – as measured by the difference between exports and imports – was recorded in China (€547 billion in 2022), followed at some distance by Russia (€271 billion). By contrast, the largest deficit was registered in the United States (€898 billion); its deficit was substantially larger than in any of the other main global economies, as it was followed by Japan (€151 billion), India (€129 billion) and the United Kingdom (€106 billion).

Figure 1: Value of international trade in goods and services, selected countries, 2022
(€ billion)
Source: Eurostat (bop_eu6_q) and International Monetary Fund (Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Statistics)

Ratio of trade in goods and services relative to GDP

In 2022, international trade in goods and services represented 25.0 % of the EU’s GDP…

The information presented in Figure 2 shows that – between some of the world’s largest trading countries – the importance of international trade in goods and services was quite different when compared with economic output as measured by gross domestic product (GDP). The ratio presented in Figure 2 is based on the average value of exports and imports relative to GDP and provides a means for analysing the ‘depth’ of globalisation or the ‘openness’ of individual economies.

Increased trade liberalisation from the 1990s onwards provided a stimulus for international trade in goods and services. Within the EU, the ratio of international trade in goods and services relative to GDP rose from 20.3 % in 2012 to 25.0 % by 2022, confirming that trade in goods and services was growing at a faster pace than the overall EU economy. This relative shift may, at least in part, be attributed to the growing importance of trade in intermediate goods, which itself was driven by higher levels of international outsourcing as global production chains were established.

The information presented is also impacted by the COVID-19 crisis and a slowdown in global trade flows during 2020 and the ongoing period of relatively high inflation. Data for the EU provide evidence as to the impact of the pandemic and price rises, in particular for imported energy products. The ratio of international trade in goods and services relative to GDP peaked at 21.8 % in 2019, fell to 20.2 % in 2020, before subsequently rebounding to 21.5 % in 2021 and then accelerating to 25.0 % in 2022.

… while much higher ratios for trade to GDP were recorded in some Asian economies

Two relatively small Asian economies reported the highest degrees of exposure to international trade, as the average value of exports and imports for goods and services in Hong Kong represented 191.9 % of its GDP in 2022, while the corresponding ratio for Singapore was 168.4 %. These figures could be contrasted with much lower ratios for some of the world’s largest economies – the EU (25.0 %), China (19.1 %), and the United States (13.7 %).

The ratio of trade in goods and services relative to GDP fell in several of the world’s leading economies between 2012 and 2022 and this was most notable in Hong Kong, Singapore, China (where the domestic economy grew at a faster pace than the value of international trade, even though China accounted for a growing share of world trade), South Korea and India. The most notable exceptions – where the ratio increased strongly – were Türkiye, where the ratio increased from 25.8 % in 2012 to 40.1 % in 2022 (up 14.3 percentage points), Mexico (up 12.2 points), Japan (up 8.3 points) and Brazil (up 7.7 points).

Figure 2: International trade in goods and services relative to GDP, selected countries, 2012 and 2022
(%)
Source: Eurostat (bop_eu6_q) and (nama_10_gdp), International Monetary Fund (Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Statistics) and the World Bank (Databank – World Development Indicators)

Shares of world trade in goods and services

The EU’s share of world exports of goods and services was 17.4 % in 2021

On average, every day the EU exports and imports millions of euro worth of goods and services to and from the rest of the world. The value of the EU’s international trade in goods and services with the rest of the world has expanded at a relatively fast pace compared with the value of trade between EU Member States (intra-EU trade). Between 2011 and 2012 the EU’s share of global exports fell (reflecting, at least in part, the after effects of the global financial and economic crisis), before recovering through until 2016. Between 2016 and 2020, this share fluctuated within the range of 17.7 % to 18.2 %. In 2021, the share again fell sharply, down to 17.4 % (although it remained 0.4 percentage points higher than a decade earlier).

Having stood at 16.6 % in 2011, the EU’s share of world imports for goods and services fell to 15.2 % in 2013 and 2015; it was in the range of 15.2 % to 15.7 % between 2012 and 2018. This share subsequently increased in successive years to reach 16.4 % in 2020 before dropping back to 15.9 % in 2021 (as such, it stood 0.7 percentage points below its share in 2011).

The most striking feature concerning developments for world shares of international trade in goods and services between 2011 and 2021 was the continued progression of China as one of the world’s leading trading nations. China’s share of the world exports for goods and services rose from 10.9 % to 15.8 % during the period under consideration (up 4.8 percentage points), while its share of imports increased by 4.0 points to reach 14.2 % in 2021 (see Figure 3).

Figure 3: Share of world trade for goods and services, selected countries, 2011–2021
(%)
Source: Eurostat (bop_eu6_q) and International Monetary Fund (Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Statistics)

Trade flows for international trade in goods and services

In 2021, goods accounted for close to four fifths of the world’s exports of goods and services

Figure 4 presents information on the relative importance of trade flows for both international trade in goods and international trade in services (more detailed information on these two types of products are provided in separate articles on goods and services). In 2021, goods accounted for 78.6 % of the world’s total trade. Fresher data are available for individual countries. In 2022, the share of goods in total exports peaked (among the selected countries) at 92.4 % in Russia and 92.3 % in Mexico. By contrast, the relative weight of services in total exports was far more pronounced in the United States (30.7 %), the EU (33.2 %), Singapore (33.4 %), India (40.3 %) and the United Kingdom (49.2 %).

The EU recorded a trade surplus for services in 2022 and a slightly smaller deficit for goods, resulting in an overall trade surplus for goods and services combined. A similar pattern was observed for Hong Kong. A similar situation, with a surplus for services and a deficit for goods, was observed for India, Türkiye, the United Kingdom and the United States but these resulted in overall deficits. By contrast, China had a particularly large trade surplus for goods but a deficit for services, while the Australian, Brazilian, Canadian, Russian, South African and South Korean economies were also relatively specialised in exporting goods and were more reliant on importing services; nevertheless, these all recorded an overall trade surplus for goods and services combined. Two of the remaining three economies presented in this article – Japan and Mexico – recorded overall deficits resulting from a deficit for goods and a deficit for services. Singapore was alone in recording a trade surplus for goods alongside a surplus for services.

Figure 4: Share of international trade in goods and services, selected countries, 2022
(%)
Source: Eurostat (bop_eu6_q) and International Monetary Fund (Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Statistics)

Source data for tables and graphs

World trade in goods and services – overview: tables and figures

Context

The provision of services contributes a substantial share of the EU’s economic wealth and accounts for more than 50 % of GDP in each of the EU Member States. Nevertheless, the value of exports and imports of goods is generally two to three times higher than that of services. Part of this imbalance may be due to the nature of some services, for example, professional services that are bound by distinct national legislation. Another difference between goods and services concerns the immediacy of the relationship between supplier and consumer: many services are non-transportable, in other words they require the physical proximity of the service provider and consumer, which implies that many services transactions involve factor mobility. For international trade in non-transportable services to take place, either the consumer must go to the service provider or the service provider must go to the consumer. Thus, an important feature of services is that they are provided using various modes of supply. Often services are tailored according to the client’s needs and wishes and so tend not to be homogeneous or mass-produced. As such, services cover a heterogeneous range of products that are difficult to encapsulate within a simple definition, while services may also be difficult to separate from the goods with which they may be associated or bundled. International organisations increasingly recognise that there is a need to explore means of gathering further information as to how services are provided, thus perhaps enabling, in the future, better policy-making internationally and, at the same time, offering complementary information for the purposes of bilateral or multilateral negotiations in trade in services; some first steps have already been undertaken in this direction.

Despite the fact that the level of international trade in services in the EU is equivalent to one third of the equivalent level for goods, there are a number of reasons to believe that the share of services may grow in future years. Technological developments have increased the tradability of some services, for example by simplifying web-based services in services such as finance, education, health and government, among others. Furthermore, liberalisation efforts are likely to ease and therefore stimulate international trade in services. Globally, the inclusion of services in the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations led to the general agreement on trade in services (GATS) that entered into force in January 1995. The GATS aims to ensure increased transparency and predictability of relevant rules and regulations and to promote progressive liberalisation through successive rounds of negotiation.