In 2019, the European Union (EU) exported €8.2 billion worth of electric cars and hybrid electric cars that can be driven in combination with a petrol or diesel engine. Imports of electric and hybrid electric cars were worth €7.1 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of €1.1 billion.
Overall, the 2019 trade in electric and hybrid electric cars was dominated by electric cars, which accounted for 69% of the value of EU imports and 56% of the value of EU exports. Hybrid electric cars accounted for 31% of imports and 44% of exports.
In 2018, the exports increased by 24% compared to 2017, while in 2019 they increased by 54% compared to 2018. The imports more than doubled between 2017 and 2018 (+104%), while they more than tripled (+208%) between 2018 and 2019.
Source dataset: DS-645593
During the first months of 2020, the exports of electric and hybrid cars increased compared with the previous year (€2.9 billion in January-April 2020, €2.5 billion in January-April 2019). April 2020 was an exception as the exports collapsed to only €0.3 billion (compared with €0.8 billion in April 2019). The low trade in April 2020 was most likely due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, the imports increased as well from €1.8 billion in January-April 2019 to €3.1 billion in January-April 2020 – with the exception of April 2020 that increased only slightly compared with April 2019.
Main destinations: the UK, Norway and the US
The main destinations for EU exports in 2019 were the United Kingdom (26% of exports in terms of value), Norway (22%) and the United States (19%).
Imports into the EU came primarily from the United States (43% of imports in terms of value), South Korea (23%) and the United Kingdom (17%).
More details about statistics on the international trade in goods can be found here.
Note: The European Union (EU) includes 27 EU Member States. The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020. Further information is published here.
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