Data extracted in February 2026
Planned article update: May 2026
Highlights
After having peaked in the first quarter of 2025 due to the threat of tariffs, EU exports decreased by 6.7% in the second quarter, 0.7% in the third quarter and 0.8% in the fourth quarter of 2025.
In the fourth quarter of 2025 the EU balance recorded a surplus of €28 billion, up €3 billion compared with the previous quarter despite decreased exports to the United States.
This article provides a picture of the international trade in goods of the European Union (EU) since 2020, using quarterly data. It analyses the type of goods exchanged with countries outside the EU, focusing on its main partners. For total trade these are China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Türkiye and Norway. For imports of energy products these are the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Kazakhstan.
This article shows the latest developments in quarterly seasonally adjusted data. Articles with a long term analysis are available in the online publication International trade in goods - a statistical picture.
Q4 2025-latest developments
The EU trade surplus in goods narrowed from €52 billion in Q1 2025 to €28 billion in Q4 2025. The threat of a trade war between the United States and the EU led to a sharp rise in both imports and, particularly, exports in Q1 2025 (see Figures 1 and 2). However, in Q2 2025, EU imports fell by 3.2%, while exports declined more markedly by 6.7%. The downward trend continued in Q3 and Q4 2025, although at a slower pace, with imports down 1.4% and exports down 0.8% in Q4 2025.This meant that both imports and exports registered decreases for 3 consecutive quarters.
Figure 3 shows the trade balance by product group. In Q4 2025, the combined surpluses for chemicals and related products, machinery & vehicles, food & drink, and other goods were higher than the combined deficits for energy, raw materials and other manufactured goods. The largest change was in the deficit for energy which improved from €-71.6 billion in Q3 2025 to €-62.7 billion in Q4 2025. In the same period the surplus for chemicals and related products decreased from €+57.8 billion in Q3 2025 to €+49.3 billion in Q4 2025
Figure 4 shows the change in imports and exports by product group in Q4 2025 compared with the previous quarter. When ranking them by value, imports increased most for raw materials (+7.3%) and decreased most for energy (-9.8%). The largest increase for exports was in raw materials (+6.0%) while the largest decrease was seen for chemicals and related products (-8.5%).
Extra-EU trade by partners
The trade balances in Q4 2025 with the 6 main trade partners of the EU are shown in Figure 5. There is a large surplus with the United Kingdom and the United States. Machinery and vehicles contributed most to this surplus. There was a large deficit with China resulting from deficits in machinery and vehicles and other manufactured goods. These same 2 product groups caused a surplus with Switzerland. The EU's deficit with Norway was caused mainly by imports of energy products.
Extra-EU imports of energy products
In Q1 2020, Russia was by far the largest origin for EU imports of energy, its share being 27.3% (see Figure 6). Russia's invasion of Ukraine changed this trade set-up profoundly with Russia's share falling to 3.6% in Q4 2025. The United States became the largest partner with a share of 17.2 in Q4 2025, while Norway was the second largest partner with a share of 11.2%. The shares of Algeria, South Arabia and Kazakhstan also increased significantly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In particular Kazakhstan became the third largest partner behind the Unites States and Norway, with a share of 7.6% in Q4 2025.
Data sources
EU data is taken from Eurostat's COMEXT database. COMEXT is the reference database for international trade in goods. 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 non-EU countries. International trade aggregated and detailed statistics disseminated via the Eurostat website are compiled from COMEXT data according to a monthly process.
Data are collected by the competent national authorities of the EU Member States and compiled according to a harmonised methodology established by EU regulations before transmission to Eurostat. For extra-EU trade, the statistical information is mainly provided by the traders on the basis of customs declarations.
EU data are compiled according to EU guidelines and may, therefore, differ from national data published by the EU Member States. Statistics on extra-EU trade are calculated as the sum of trade of each of the 27 EU 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 within it.
The United Kingdom is considered as an extra-EU partner country for the EU for the whole period covered by this article. However, the United Kingdom was still part of the internal market until the end of the transitory period (31 December 2020), meaning that data on trade with the United Kingdom were still based on statistical concepts applicable to trade between the EU Member States. Consequently, while imports from any other extra-EU trade partner are grouped by country of origin, the United Kingdom data reflected the country of consignment.
Product classification
Products are defined according to the fourth revision of the standard international trade classification (SITC). The main categories are
- food, drinks and tobacco (Sections 0 and 1 - including live animals)
- raw materials (Sections 2 and 4)
- energy products (Section 3)
- chemicals and related products (Section 5 - including pharmaceuticals and plastics)
- machinery and transport equipment (Section 7)
- other manufactured goods (Sections 6 and 8)
- other goods (Section 9)
Methodology
According to the EU concepts and definitions, extra-EU trade statistics (trade between EU Member States and non-EU countries) do not record exchanges involving goods in transit, placed in a customs warehouse or given temporary admission (for trade fairs, temporary exhibitions, tests, etc.). This is known as 'special trade'. The partner is the country of final destination of the goods for exports and the country of origin for imports.
Unit of measure
Trade values are expressed in millions or billions (1 000 millions) of euros. They correspond to the statistical value, i.e. to the amount which would be invoiced in the event 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
Trade is an important indicator of Europe's prosperity and place in the world. The bloc is deeply integrated into global markets both for the products it sources and the exports it sells. The EU trade policy is one of the main pillars of the EU's relations with the rest of the world.
Because the 27 EU Member States share a single market and a single external border, they also have a single trade policy. EU Member States speak and negotiate collectively, both in the World Trade Organisation, where the rules of international trade are agreed and enforced, and with individual trading partners. This common policy enables them to speak with one voice in trade negotiations, maximising their impact in such negotiations. This is even more important in a globalised world in which economies tend to cluster together in regional groups.
The openness of the EU's trade regime has meant that the EU is the biggest player on the global trading scene and remains a good region to do business with. Thanks to the ease of modern transport and communications, it is now easier to produce, buy and sell goods around the world which gives European companies of every size the potential to trade outside Europe.