BRUSSELS, BELGIUM – The EU imported US$524 billion (€482 billion) worth of high-tech products from extra-EU countries in 2022 (+22 percent compared with 2021), according to an estimate published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union .
Exports to these countries reached US$485 billion (€446 billion) (+16 percent compared with 2021).
In 2022, over half of the EU’s high-tech imports from non-EU countries came from China (38 percent; US$199 billion) and the United States (19 percent; US$99 billion), with other top partners being Switzerland (6 percent; US$32 billion), Taiwan (5 percent; US$25 billion) and the United Kingdom (US$21 billion) and Vietnam (US$19 billion).
The most significant category of high-tech products imported from non-EU countries was electronics-telecommunications (US$219 billion).
For three of the top six high-tech import partners, the largest imported category was electronics-telecommunications: Vietnam (US$14 billion), Taiwan (US$17 billion) and China (US$109 billion).
The largest category 68 percent of high-tech imports in pharmacy was from Switzerland (US$21 billion). In aerospace the imports were 28 percent from United Kingdom (US$6.5 billion).
For high-tech exports to non-EU countries, the United States was the top trading partner in 2022 at 26 percent (US$128 billion) with China second at 12 percent (US$57 billion).
These countries were followed by the United Kingdom (9 percent US$45 billion) Switzerland (6 percent; US$30 billion), Japan (4 percent; US$20 billion) and Turkey (3 percent; US$13 billion). The most significant category of high-tech products exported to non-EU countries was pharmacy (US$157 billion).