Archive:Extra-EU trade in manufactured goods
Data from April 2020
Planned update: April 2021
Highlights
In 2019, manufactured goods made up 83 % of all EU exports and 70 % of EU imports.
The United States, United Kingdom and China were the main EU trading partners for manufactured goods in 2019.
EU-28 exports, imports and trade balance in manufactured products, 2002-2018
This article focuses on the structure and evolution of the European Union (EU) international trade in manufactured goods: imports and exports at EU level.
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
Manufactured goods dominate international trade
The Standard international trade classification (SITC) distinguishes four main categories (sections) of manufactured goods:
- chemicals (SITC 5);
- manufactured goods classified chiefly by material (SITC 6);
- machinery and vehicles (SITC 7);
- miscellaneous manufactured articles (SITC 8).
Categories 6 and 8 are often grouped together as 'other manufactured goods'. This grouping is also used in this article.
The share of manufactured goods in total exports of goods decreased from 86.6 % in 2002 to 82.8 % in 2019 (Figure 1).
It peaked in 2002 at 86.6 % and had its lowest value in 2012 at 80.3 %.
The share of manufactured goods in total imports of goods decreased from 70.3 % in 2002 to 69.5 % in 2019. It peaked in 2016 at 71.3 % and had its lowest value in 2012 at 57.2 %.
Machinery and vehicles largest sector in manufactured goods
China accounts for almost a third of imports of other manufactured goods
Chemicals fastest growing sector in manufactured goods
Source data for tables and graphs
Data sources
EU data come from Eurostat’s COMEXT database. COMEXT is the Eurostat reference database for international trade. It provides access not only to both recent and historical data from the EU Member States but also to statistics of a significant number of third 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.
EU data are compiled according to community guidelines and may, therefore, differ from national data published by Member States. Statistics on extra-EU trade are calculated as the sum of trade of each of the 27 Member States with countries outside the EU. In other words, the EU is considered as a single trading entity and trade flows are measured into and out of the area, but not among Member States within the EU.
Unit of measure
Trade values are expressed in billions (109) of euros. They correspond to the statistical value, i.e. to the amount which would be invoiced in case of sale or purchase at the national border of the reporting country. It is called a FOB value (free on board) for exports and a CIF value (cost, insurance, freight) for imports.
Context
The EU is the world's biggest exporter of manufactured goods, and is a global market leader for high-quality products. Thanks to some of its key assets such as chemicals, pharmacy products, motor vehicles and non-electrical machinery, the European Union has a substantial trade surplus for manufactured products.
Direct access to
- International trade data (t_ext)
- International trade long-term indicators (t_ext_lti)
- International trade short-term indicators (t_ext_sti)
- International trade data (ext)
- International trade long-term indicators (ext_lti)
- International trade short-term indicators (ext_sti)
- International trade detailed data (detail)
- International trade in goods statistics - background
- International trade in goods (ESMS metadata file — ext_go_agg_esms)
- User guide on European statistics on international trade in goods
- Regulation (EC) No 471/2009 of 6 May 2009 on Community statistics relating to external trade with non-member countries
- Summaries of EU Legislation: Extrastat: statistics relating to trade with non-EU countries
- Regulation (EU) No 92/2010 of 2 February 2010 implementing Regulation (EC) No 471/2009, as regards data exchange between customs authorities and national statistical authorities, compilation of statistics and quality assessment
- Regulation (EU) No 113/2010 of 9 February 2010 implementing Regulation (EC) No 471/2009 , as regards trade coverage, definition of the data, compilation of statistics on trade by business characteristics and by invoicing currency, and specific goods or movements.