Brussels, 30/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - The USA and China remained the EU's main third-country trading partners in 2014, and Germany was the main market for intra-EU trade, according to the annual figures published by the European statistical office, Eurostat, on 27 March.
With volumes of €515.6 billion and €467.3 billion respectively (or 15% and 14% of the total bilateral trade in goods of the EU), the USA and China continued to be the EU's two main trading partners in 2014, ahead of Russia (€285.1 billion, 8% of the total) and Switzerland (€236.9 billion, 7% of the total). The USA's share of this total fell by a third in 10 years, from 24% in 2002 to 15% in 2014, whilst China's doubled, from 7% to 14% over the same period. Russia's share increased slightly, from 5% to 8%, and Switzerland's share remains almost unchanged at around 7%.
For almost all of the countries of the EU, the main partner for the export of goods was another EU country, with the exception of Ireland (for which the USA was the main export market), Greece (Turkey), Lithuania (Russia), Sweden (Norway) and the UK (USA). For five countries, at least 25% of exports went to Germany: these were the Czech Republic (32%), Austria (29%), Hungary (28%), Poland (26%) and the Netherlands (25%). In total, Germany was the main export partner for 16 countries of the EU and featured in the top three for 21 member states. The three main third-country destinations for exports of goods from the EU were the USA (18% of the total), China (10%) and Switzerland (8%).
In 2014, the EU28 exported €4.636 trillion worth of goods, with €2.943 trillion of these (or 63%) destined for another EU country. Slovakia (84% of total exports), Luxembourg (83%), the Czech Republic (82%), Hungary (80%), Poland (77%), the Netherlands (76%) and Slovenia (75%) had the highest shares of intra-EU exports in 2014; in the opposite corner, the UK, Malta and Greece (48%) were the only three member states to have exported more goods to third countries than the rest of the EU in 2014.
For almost all of the countries of the EU, the main partner for the import of goods was another country of the EU, with the exception of Bulgaria, Greece and Lithuania (Russia). For seven countries, at least 30% of goods imported came from just one partner country: Austria (41% of imports from Germany), Ireland (38% from the UK), Portugal (32% from Spain), Luxembourg (31% from Belgium) and the Czech Republic (30% from Germany). In total, Germany was one of the three main countries of origin for goods imported for all EU countries, with the exception of Cyprus and Malta. The three main import partners were China (18% of total extra-EU imports), followed by the USA (12%) and Russia (11%).
In 2014, the EU28 imported €4.529 trillion worth of goods, with €2.849 trillion of these (or 63%) coming from another EU country. Estonia (82% of total imports), Latvia and Luxembourg (80% each) and the Czech Republic and Austria (77% each) had the highest intra-Community import shares. On the other hand, the Netherlands (46%) and Greece (49%) were the only two member states for which fewer than half of imports came from within the EU.
By product, machinery and transport equipment played a major role in the trade in goods between the EU and the rest of the world (42% of total extra-EU exports and 27% of imports). Mineral fuels accounted for a small proportion of extra-EU exports (6%), but a very high share of imports (26%). Other manufactured articles (23% of extra-EU exports and 24% of extra-EU imports) and chemicals (16% of extra-EU exports and 10% of extra-EU imports) also played a significant role. (Emmanuel Hagry)