Large enterprises made up 56% of EU services exports

In 2022, large enterprises in the EU with 250 or more employees dominated services exports to non-EU countries, accounting for 56% of the total. Small enterprises (up to 49 employees) contributed 14%, surpassing medium-sized enterprises (50 to 249 employees) with a share of 10% of the exports, while for 20% of the exports the size of the exporting enterprises cannot be allocated.

This data comes from the Services Trade by Enterprise Characteristics (STEC) statistics, published today by Eurostat for the first time as official statistics. STEC statistics provide insights into the link between the volume of trade in services and the characteristics of the enterprises involved.

Source dataset: ext_stec01 

Enterprises whose main field of operation was transport and information and communication activities each accounted for 20% of services exports, followed closely by manufacturing enterprises with 15%. Enterprises in the professional, scientific and technical activities represented 10%, ahead of those in the financial sector, which contributed 8%.

Source dataset: ext_stec01 

Among small enterprises, the financial sector was the main contributor with a 28% share of exports, followed by transport (19%), information and communication (14%) and professional, scientific, and technical activities (14%). Manufacturing recorded the lowest share in exports of services among small enterprises at 3%.

For medium-sized enterprises, most of the international trade in services came from the professional, scientific and technical sector (24%), followed by information and communication, and transport (each contributing 22%). Manufacturing and financial enterprises each accounted for 7% of services exports.

Large enterprises involved in services exports were predominantly active in the information and communication sector (28% of the exports), followed by transport and manufacturing (23% for both). The professional, scientific and technical sector accounted for 10% of exports, while the financial sector contributed 5%.