Intra-EU trade in goods - main features
Data from May 2024
Planned update: May 2025
Highlights
Trade among EU countries as a share of total trade in goods ranged from just over 22 % for Cyprus to 81 % for Czechia in 2023.
Four fifths of total exports of goods within the EU in 2023 were manufactured products.
Exports of goods to other Member States, 2023
This article takes a close look at recent trends, focusing on total intra-EU trade in goods and the most traded products. It presents statistics for the EU aggregate and for individual EU countries for the period covering 2002 to 2023.
Statistics on international trade in goods betweencountries of the European Union (EU)- especially the size and evolution of imports and exports - enable the EU and national authorities to evaluate the growth of the Single Market and the integration of EU economies. These statistics also provide EU businesses with essential information for their sales and marketing policies.
This article is part of an online publication providing recent statistics on international trade in goods, covering information on the EU's main partners, main products traded, specific characteristics of trade as well as background information.
Full article
Evolution of intra-EU trade in goods
In 2023, the exports of goods from EU countries to other EU countries stood at 4 135 billion, a decrease of 2.4% compared to 2022.
When looking at the long-term evolution by month, exports of goods within the EU showed significant fluctuations during the financial and the Covid-19 crises. In particular during the pandemic crisis, exports dropped dramatically between February 2020 and April 2020, before recovering in the subsequent months and reaching a peak in August 2022. From September 2022 onwards, the exports of goods within the EU started to decrease gradually, standing at 337 billion in December 2023.
(€ billion)
Source: Eurostat (ext_st_eu27_2020sitc)
Since the introduction of the Intrastat data collection system for intra-EU trade in goods on 1 January 1993, the value of intra-EU exports of goods has been consistently higher than that of intra-EU imports of goods. In theory, as intra-EU exports of goods are declared FOB-type value and intra-EU imports of goods CIF-type value, the value of intra-EU imports of goods should be slightly higher than that of intra-EU exports of goods. The analysis presented in this article considers intra-EU exports of goods only, as it is the more reliable measure of total intra-EU trade in goods since, at aggregated levels, total intra-EU exports of goods has better coverage than total intra-EU imports of goods.
Intra-EU trade in goods by EU country
There is a wide variation in the value of exports of goods by EU country to partners within the EU (Figure 2a). In 2023, the value of export trade in goods within the EU ranged from €878 billion for Germany to just over €1 billion for Cyprus. There were seven EU countries (Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, France, Poland and Spain) whose exports of goods to partners in the EU were more than €200 billion in 2023, accounting for 73 % of the total value of intra-EU exports of goods.
Figure 2a: Exports of goods to other Member States, 2023
(€ billion)
Source: Eurostat Comext (ds-018995)
Figure 2b: Exports of goods to other Member States - details, 2023
(€ billion)
Source: Eurostat Comext (ds-018995)
Between 2002 and 2023, the value of exports of goods to partners in the EU increased more than 10 % annually in average in four countries: Latvia (10.7 %), Poland (10.3 %), Lithuania and Bulgaria (both 10.2 %). In 12 of the remaining 23 EU countries annual average growth was between 5 % and 10 % and in 11 below 5 %. EU countries in Eastern Europe tended to have higher growth rates. (Table 1)
(€ billion and %)
Source: Eurostat Comext (ds-018995)
In 20 EU countries the top three partners account for over 50 % of exports within the EU (Figure 3). For a further six countries the top three partners have between 40 % and 50 % of exports within the EU. Only in Germany (37 %) is this share below 40 %. Germany appeared most often (25 times) as a top three partner; Italy (10 times) and France (9 times) were the next two popular partners.
(share of total Intra-EU exports of goods)
Source: Eurostat Comext (ds-018995)
Intra-EU trade in goods balance
It can be difficult to interpret figures in absolute terms for individual EU countries. In particular their trade in goods balances must be interpreted with caution for the phenomenon of quasi-transit.
In 2023, nine EU countries had a trade surplus (Figure 4a). The surplus was highest in the Netherlands (€284.0 billion). It was also above €10 billion in Czechia (€37.1 billion), Belgium (€35.7 billion), Poland (€32.5 billion), Ireland (€27.4 billion) and Hungary (€17.1 billion). There were 18 EU countries with a trade deficit. The deficit was highest in France (€138.3 billion). It was also at least €10 billion in Portugal (€23.8 billion), Romania (€22.0 billion), Sweden (€19.5 billion), Germany (€18.4 billion), Croatia (€14.8 billion), Italy (€14.5 billion), Austria (€13.6 billion), Greece (€12.7 billion) and Finland (€10.8 billion). In 11 EU countries the trade balance was between +€10 billion and -€10 billion (Figure 4b).
Figure 4a: Intra-EU trade in goods balance by Member State, 2023
(€ billion)
Source: Eurostat Comext (ds-018995)
Figure 4b: Intra-EU trade in goods balance by Member State - details, 2023
(€ billion)
Source: Eurostat Comext (ds-018995)
In 2002, 18 EU countries had a trade deficit for intra EU trade in goods (Table 2). In Spain, Poland and Slovenia this had changed to a surplus by 2023. In 2002, nine EU countries had a trade surplus for intra EU trade in goods. In Germany, Denmark and Finland this changed to a deficit by 2023.
In 2023, the Netherlands, which had the highest trade surplus in absolute terms, had also the highest ratio of exports to imports (188) followed by Ireland (151) see Table 3. France, which had the highest trade deficit in absolute terms, ranked 20th for its ratio of exports to imports. Its ratio of 71 was higher than that of Portugal (70), Greece (69), Latvia (66), Luxembourg (59), Croatia (51), Malta (35) and Cyprus (14) which all had a lower deficit in absolute terms than France.
(%)
Source: Eurostat Comext (ds-018995)
Table 4 considers the trade relationship of individual EU countries with non-EU partners to add further context to the interpretation of intra-EU trade in goods balances. It shows the ratio of 'goods exports divided by goods imports' by EU country for trade with non-EU partners. In 2023 this ratio was highest in Latvia (157), Estonia and Germany (both 151) and lowest in Malta (52), Greece (54) and the Netherlands (57).
(%)
Source: Eurostat Comext (ds-018995)
Comparing Table 3 and Table 4, there were seven EU countries (Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia, Cyprus, Malta, Portugal and Romania) with a trade deficit in both intra- and extra-EU trade in 2023, indicated in the Tables 3 and 4 by a value below 100 %. There were seven EU countries (Belgium, Czechia, Spain, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovenia) with a surplus in intra-EU trade, but a deficit in extra-EU trade. There were eleven EU countries (Denmark, Germany, Estonia, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Austria, Finland and Sweden) with a deficit in intra-EU trade, but a surplus in extra-EU trade. Finally, Ireland and Slovakia had a trade surplus in both tables.
When considering the trade relationships between a country and its trading partners, consideration must also be given to, trade in services to get a more complete picture. See for example the recent article on Trade in Services.
Intra-EU trade in goods compared with extra-EU trade in goods
In 2023, 19 EU countries had a ratio of total exports to total imports between 80 % and 120 % (Table 5). Seven EU countries (Greece, Croatia, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal and Romania) had a ratio of less than 80 %, while only Ireland had a ratio of more than 120 %.
(%, total = intra-EU + extra-EU)
Source: Eurostat Comext (ds-018995)
In 2023, most EU countries had a share of intra-EU exports between 50 % and 75 % (Figure 5). It was above 75 % in Czechia (81 %), Luxembourg, Hungary (both 79 %) and Slovakia (77 %). Only in Ireland (42 %) and Cyprus (22 %) was the share of intra-EU exports lower than 50 %, meaning extra-EU exports were higher than intra-EU exports.
The unweighted average ratio for EU countries of intra-EU exports to extra-EU exports decreased by 19 percentage points (pp) between 2002 and 2022 (Table 6). The ratio decreased in sixteen EU countries. The largest decreases were in Slovakia (-372 pp), and Slovenia (-155 pp). The ratio increased in eleven EU countries. The largest increases were in Malta (57 pp), Romania (50 pp) and Lithuania (31 pp).
(%)
Source: Eurostat Comext (ds-018995)
Intra-EU trade in goods by main product groups
Figure 6 shows the share in intra-EU exports of goods by product type. Between 2002 and 2023, the share increased for Energy (+4 pp), Chemicals (+3 pp), Food, drinks and tobacco (+2 pp). It decreased for Machinery & vehicles (-4 pp), Other manufactured goods (-3 pp) and Other goods (-1 pp).
(%)
Source: Eurostat Comext (ds-018995)
In 2023, in all EU countries the share of manufactured goods was higher than the share of primary goods although there were considerable differences between EU countries. In Ireland (11.0) and Czechia (9.1) the share of manufactured goods was more than eight times as high as the share of primary goods, while ratios below two were found in the Netherlands (1.9), Denmark (1.7), Lithuania (1.6), Latvia (1.5), Cyprus (1.3) and Greece (1.1).
(%)
Source: Eurostat Comext (ds-018995)
Source data for tables and graphs
Data sources
EU international trade data comes from Eurostat’s COMEXT database.
COMEXT is the Eurostat reference database for international trade in goods. It provides access not only to both recent and historical data from the EU countries but also to statistics of a significant number of non-EU countries. International trade aggregated and detailed statistics disseminated from Eurostat website are compiled from COMEXT data according to a monthly process. Because COMEXT is updated on a daily basis, data published on the website may differ from data stored in COMEXT in case of recent revisions.
Information on intra-EU trade is collected by the EU countries using the various media placed at the disposal of the information providers. These may be paper or electronic declarations provided for at national level. The declarations are addressed directly to the competent national administrations.
European statistics on international trade in goods are compiled according to the EU concepts and definitions and may, therefore, differ from national data published by EU countries.
Context
The EU's single or internal market is a market where goods, services, capital and people can circulate freely. The free movement of goods principle requires that national barriers to the free movement of goods within the EU be removed. Articles 34 to 36 of the Treaty of the functioning of the European Union prohibit quantitative restrictions on imports, exports or goods in transit and all similar restrictive measures between countries. All measures capable of hindering directly or indirectly such imports are considered to be quantitative restrictions.
Additionally, because the 27 EU countries of the European Union share a single market and a single external border, they also have a single trade policy. Both in the World Trade Organization, where the rules of international trade are agreed and enforced, and with individual trading partners, EU countries speak and negotiate collectively.
The importance of the EU’s internal market is underlined by the fact that the proportion of intra-EU trade in goods is higher than extra-EU trade in goods in most EU countries with few exceptions. The variation in the proportion of total trade in goods accounted for by intra-EU trade reflects to some degree historical ties and geographical location.
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