united eur trade products imports 2844 eurostat

Production and international trade in high-tech products### Manufacturing of high-tech productsIn 2017 the EU-27 had an estimated number of 38 922 enterprises in the high-tech manufacturing sector (Table 1), which represents 0.2 % of the totalnumber of enterprises in the EU. High-tech manufacturers were most numerous inGermany (7 561), Italy (5 400) and Poland (3 662). They had the highestturnover in France (168 166), Germany (167 216) and Italy (57 377) and thehighest value added in Germany (60 702), France (39 833) and Italy (19 712).Relative to the total business population the share of high tech manufacturerswas highest in Croatia (0.4 %), Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Hungary,Slovenia, Finland and Sweden (all 0.3 %). Relative to the turnover in thetotal business population the share of high tech manufacturers was highest inHungary (5.3 %), France (4.5 %) and Finland (4.3 %). Relative to the valueadded in the total business population the share of high tech manufacturerswas highest in Hungary (7.8 %), France (6.2 %) and Belgium (4.4 %).Table 1 : High-tech manufacturing statistics, 2017Source:Eurostat(sbs_na_sca_r2)### Sold production of high-tech productsSold production of high tech products increased from EUR 288 billion in 2008to EUR 337 billion in 2018. This was equivalent to an average annual increaseof 1.6 %.Figure 1: Total sold production of high-tech products (¹), EU-27, 2008-2018Source: Eurostat (Prodcom database DS-045339)}In 2018, the largest category in production of high tech products was pharmacywith EUR 78.3 billion. This was also the category with the highest averageannual growth rate (6.8 %) between 2008 and 2018 . There was also growth inthe production of armament (5.2 %), aerospace (4.8 %), scientific instruments(3.1 %) and electrical machinery (2.0 %). Production fell in computers officemachines (-2.7 %), electronics-telecommunications (-1.8 %), chemistry (-0.7 %)and non-electrical machinery (-0.3 %).Figure 2: Total sold production of high-tech products, EU-27, 2008-2018Source: Eurostat (Prodcom database DS-045339)}In 2018, pharmacy (23 %) was the largest category in the production of hightech goods (Figure 3). Electronics-telecommunications (22 %), scientificinstruments (19 %) and aerospace (13 %) were the other categories with a shareabove 10 %.Figure 3: Sold production in high-tech sectors, EU-27, 2018Source: Eurostat (Prodcom database DS-045339)}### EU imports of trade in high-tech productsIn 2019 more than half of the EU-27 imports of high-tech products from non EUcountries came from China (32.5 %) and the United States (22.5 %) as shown inFigure 4. Between 2009 and 2019 these imports increased from EUR 202 billionto EUR 362 billion, equivalent to an average annual growth rate of 6.0 %.Among the top six partners imports from China increased the most in absoluteterms, from EUR 56 billion to EUR 118 billion, while Vietnam with 42.9 % hadthe highest average annual growth rate.Figure 4: Imports of high-tech products, top 6 partners, EU-27, 2009-2019Source: Eurostat (Prodcom database DS-045339)}Figure 5 shows the top 20 partners (in 2019) from which the EU-27 importedhigh-tech products. Compared to 2009 Vietnam and Turkey entered the top 20while Costa Rica and Brazil dropped out.Figure 5: Imports of high-tech products, top 20 partners, EU-27, 2019Source: Eurostat (Comext database DS-18995)}The largest category in EU-27 imports of high tech product was electronics-telecommunications with EUR 136.1 billion (Figure 6). The category with thehighest average annual growth rate between 2009 and 2019 was pharmacy (9.2 %).Growth rates above 5 % were also found in the imports of aerospace (8.7 %),electrical machinery (8.4 %), armament (7.8 %), electronics-telecommunications(6.4 %), non-electrical machinery and scientific instruments (both 5.3 %).Imports of computers office machines (3.0 %) grew less strong while importsfell in chemistry (-0.3 %).Figure 6: Extra EU-27 imports of high-tech products by category, 2009-2019Source: Eurostat (Comext database DS-018995)}For four (China, the United Kingdom, Vietnam and Malaysia) of the six toppartners, the largest category in EU-27 imports of high-tech products waselectronics-telecommunications in 2019 (Figure 7). Only for Switzerland(pharmacy) and the United States (aerospace) a different category was thelargest. Both the United States and China were the top partner in fourcategories, while the United Kingdom was the main partner in the chemistrycategory.Figure 7: Imports of high-tech products, top 6 trading partners, EU-27, 2019Source: Eurostat (Comext database DS-18995)}Between 2009 and 2019 high-tech imports from China (EUR 61 billion), UnitedStates( EUR 39 billion) and Vietnam (EUR 14 billion) increased most (Table 2).The main contributing category to the increase of imports from China wasscientific instruments with EUR 36 billion. The main contributing category tothe increase of imports from United States was aerospace with EUR 19 billion.The main contributing category to the increase of imports from Vietnam wasscientific instruments with EUR 12 billion.Table 2: Variations in imports of high-tech products, main partners, EU-27,2009-2019Source: Eurostat (Comext database DS-18995)}### EU exports of trade in high-tech productsIn 2019 almost a quarter of the EU-27 exports of high-tech products to non EUcountries went to the United States (24.7 %) followed at some distance byChina (11.7 %) and the United Kingdom (11.0 %). Between 2009 and 2019 theseexports increased from EUR 188 billion to EUR 382 billion, equivalent to anannual average growth rate of 7.4 %. Among the top six partners exports toUnited States increased the most in absolute terms, from EUR 36 billion to EUR94 billion, while China with 12.9 % had the highest average annual growth rate(figure 8).Figure 8: Exports of high-tech products, top 6 partners, EU-27, 2009-2019Source: Eurostat (Comext database DS-18995)}Figure 9 shows the top 20 partners to which the EU-27 exports high-techproducts in 2019. Compared to 2009 Mexico entered the top 20 while Brazildropped out.Figure 9 : Exports of high-tech products, top 20 partners, EU-27, 2019Source: Eurostat (Comext database DS-18995)}The largest category in the exports of high tech product was pharmacy with EUR91.7 billion in 2019 (Figure 10). This was also the category with the highestaverage annual growth rate (12.9 %) between 2009 and 2019. Growth rates above5 % were also found in the exports of aerospace (9.4 %), scientificinstruments (7.6 %) and electrical machinery (5.8 %). Growth rates were lowerin computers office machines (2.2 %), non-electrical machinery (2.9 %),chemistry (3.1 %), armament (3.8 %) and electronics-telecommunications (4.9%).Figure 10: Extra EU-27 exports of high-tech products by category, 2009-2019Source: Eurostat (Comext database DS-018995)} In 2019, for the United States, Switzerland, Japan and Russia, the largestcategory in EU-27 exports of high-tech products was pharmacy (Figure 11). ForChina and the United Kingdom it was electronics-telecommunication. In sevencategories the United Staes was the largest export destination for EU-27exports. A different top partner was only seen in electronics-telecommunication (China) and computers office machines (the United Kingdom).Figure 11: Exports of high-tech products, top 6 trading partners, EU-27, 2019Source: Eurostat (Comext database DS-18995)}Between 2009 and 2019 high-tech imports from United States (EUR 58 billion),China( EUR 31 billion) and United Kingdom (EUR 14 billion) increased most(Table 3). The main contributing category to the increase of imports fromUnited States was pharmacy with EUR 29 billion. The main contributing categoryto the increase of imports from China was electronics-telecommunications withEUR 11 billion. The main contributing category to the increase of imports fromUnited Kingdom was pharmacy with EUR 4 billion.Table 3: Variations in exports of high-tech products, main partners, EU-27,2009-2019Source: Eurostat (Comext database DS-18995)}### EU trade balance in high-tech productsThe EU-27 has a large trade deficit with China (EUR 73 billion) in 2019(Figure 12a). The only other partner with a trade deficit exceeding EUR 10billion is Vietnam (EUR 11 billion), The EU-27 has a trade surplus above EUR10 billion with the United Kingdom (EUR 16 billion), the United States (EUR 13billion) and Russia (EUR 11 billion). Countries for which the trade balancefell between – EUR 5 billion and + EUR 5 billion are shown separately inFigure 12b.Figure 12a :Balance of trade in high-tech products, main partners, EU-27, 2019Source: Eurostat (Comext database DS-18995)}Figure 12b: Balance of trade in high-tech products, details, EU-27, 2019Source: Eurostat (Comext database DS-18995)}The trade deficit with China in 2019 is largely due to deficits inelectronics-telecommunications (EUR 48 billion) and computers office machines(EUR 39 billion) as shown in Table 4. The surplus with the United Kingdom wasspread over more categories. The four largest were pharmacy (EUR 4 billion),electronics-telecommunications, scientific instruments and computers officemachines (all three EUR 3 billion). With the United States there is a largedeficit in aerospace (EUR 14 billion) but an even larger surplus in pharmacy(EUR 18 billion).Table 4 :Trade balance of high-tech products for top 20 partners, EU-27, 2019Source: Eurostat (Comext database DS-18995)}### Data sourcesMultiple data sources High-tech statistics uses various other domains andsources mainly within Eurostat’s official statistics: * International trade in goods statistics (COMEXT); * Statistics on the production of manufactured goods (PRODCOM); * Community innovation survey (CIS); * Human resources in science and technology (HRST); * Labour force survey (LFS); * Structural business statistics (SBS); * Research and development (R & D); * Structure of earnings survey (SES); * Patent database (PATSTAT). The coverage and availability of high-tech statistics are then dependent onthese other primary sources.Trade in high-tech productsEU data is taken from Eurostat’s COMEXT database. COMEXT is the referencedatabase for international trade in goods. It provides access not only to bothrecent and historical data from the EU Member States but also to statistics ofa significant number of third countries. International trade aggregated anddetailed statistics disseminated via the Eurostat website are compiled fromCOMEXT data according to a monthly process.Data are collected by the competent national authorities of the Member Statesand compiled according to a harmonised methodology established by EUregulations before transmission to Eurostat. For extra-EU trade, thestatistical information is mainly provided by the traders on the basis ofcustoms declarations.EU data are compiled according to Community guidelines and may, therefore,differ from national data published by the Member States. Statistics on extra-EU trade are calculated as the sum of trade of each of the 27 EU Member Stateswith countries outside the EU. In other words, the EU is considered as asingle 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-27for the whole period covered by this article. However, the United Kingdom wasstill part of the internal market until the end of the transitory period (31December 2020), meaning that data on trade with the United Kingdom are stillbased on statistical concepts applicable to trade between the EU MemberStates. Consequently, while imports from any other extra-EU-27 trade partnerare grouped by country of origin, the United Kingdom data reflect the countryof consignment. In practice this means that the goods imported by the EU-27from the United Kingdom were physically transported from the United Kingdombut part of these goods could have been of other origin than the UnitedKingdom. For this reason, data on trade with the United Kingdom are not fullycomparable with data on trade with other extra-EU-27 trade partners.The product approach is used for data on high-tech trade. The product list isbased on the calculations of R & D intensity by groups of products (R & Dexpenditure/total sales). The groups classified as high-technology productsare aggregated on the basis of the Standard international trade classification(SITC). Due to the revision of SITC from SITC Rev. 3 to SITC Rev. 4, thedefinition of high-tech products also changed in 2011. The data in thisarticle use the high-tech aggregation by SITC Rev. 4. This list, based on theOECD definition, contains technical products of which the manufacturinginvolved a high intensity of R & D.Production of high-tech productsIndustrial production data comes from PRODCOM. Prodcom provides statistics onthe production of manufactured goods. The Prodcom data includes: * the physical volume of production sold during the survey period; * the value of production sold during the survey period; * for some products, the volume of total production during the survey period; The Prodcom data is obtained by the National Statistical Institutes (NSIs) whoconduct a survey of enterprises. Eurostat calculates EU totals at EU-28 levelfrom the national data.Data limitationsList of the PRODCOM products without correspondence in COMEXT:2844 10 10 | 2844 30 51 | 8523 49 25 | 8523 51 99 —|—|—|— 2844 10 30 | 2844 30 55 | 8523 49 31 | 8710 00 00 2844 10 50 | 2844 30 61 | 8523 49 39 | 9301 10 00 2844 10 90 | 2844 30 69 | 8523 49 45 | 9301 20 00 2844 20 25 | 2844 30 91 | 8523 49 51 | 9301 90 00 2844 20 35 | 2844 30 99 | 8523 49 59 | 9305 91 00 2844 20 51 | 2844 40 10 | 8523 49 91 | 9306 30 30 2844 20 59 | 2844 40 20 | 8523 49 93 | 9306 90 10 2844 20 99 | 2844 40 30 | 8523 49 99 | 2844 30 11 | 2844 40 80 | 8523 51 91 | 2844 30 19 | 2844 50 00 | 8523 51 93 | Labels for these codes can be found HERE.## ContextIn the context of economic globalisation, technology is a key factor inenhancing growth and competitiveness in business. High-tech industries areexpanding most strongly in international trade and their dynamism helps toimprove performance in other sectors. Investment in research, development,innovation and skills constitutes a key policy area for the EU as it isessential to economic growth and to the development of a knowledge-basedeconomy.Certain WTO Members including the EU have joined the Information TechnologyAgreement (ITA) which provides duty free access to high-tech products,including computers, telephones and inputs and components such assemiconductors. The new, expanded ITA agreement concluded recently will reducethe costs for consumers and for manufacturing IT products in Europe. It willoffer new market access for many of Europe’s high tech companies – some ofwhich are leaders in their fields – and encourage innovation by simplifyingaccess to state-of-the-art technology. As such, it will contribute to thefurther development of the digital economy in the EU.