Man with a helmet in front of cargo.

In 2023, EU countries exported €154.3 billion worth of technical, trade-related and other business services (such as engineering, waste treatment and operating leasing services) to countries outside of the EU and imported €136.6 billion, resulting in a €17.7 billion trade surplus. Exports increased by 4.8%, while imports decreased by 0.5% compared with 2022.

The United Kingdom was the EU’s largest trade partner for technical, trade-related and other business services in 2023. More than a fifth of all exports went to the United Kingdom (32.5 billion; 21.1%), while the United States was the second largest export partner (€26.8 billion; 17.4%), followed by Switzerland (€16.4 billion; 10.6%). 

Regarding EU imports, more than a quarter came from the United Kingdom (€36.2 billion; 26.5%), while the United States (€26.6 billion; 19.5%) and Switzerland (€10.8 billion; 7.9%) again came second and third.

Main trading partners for the EU for technical, trade-related, and other business services, 2023. Donut charts - Click below to see full dataset.

Source dataset: bop_its6_det

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Methodological notes

Technical, trade-related and other business services comprise:

  • architectural, engineering and other technical services;
  • waste treatment and environmental remediation, agricultural and mining services;
  • operating leasing services, trade-related services;
  • other business services such as: distribution services related to water, steam, gas and other petroleum products and the supply of air-conditioning, placement of personnel, security, photographic services, publishing, real estate, etc.

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