EU imported €3.5 trillion worth of services in 2024
In 2024, EU countries imported €3 471 billion worth of services from non-EU countries.
This information comes from official statistics on the international trade in services by modes of supply (MOS) published by Eurostat today.
Most of the services (58.9%; €2 044 billion) were imported through a commercial presence within the reporting country (mode 3). Cross-border supply (mode 1) accounted for 31.3% of imports (€1 087 billion), consumption abroad (mode 2) for 6.6% (€ 229 billion) and the presence of natural persons (mode 4) for 3.2% (€111 billion).
Source dataset: ext_ser_mos
In 22 EU countries, the majority of service imports came through a commercial presence within their territory (mode 3). The highest shares of imports via commercial presence were in Bulgaria (81.7%), Hungary (78.1%) and Spain (74.5%).
Cross-border supply (mode 1) was the dominant mode in Greece, accounting for 68.8% of imports. Cyprus (43.8%), Sweden (37.7%) and Denmark (37.4%) also reported high shares.
Consumption abroad (mode 2) played a significant role in Denmark, where it accounted for 22.3% of imports. France (12.1%), Lithuania (10.8%), Croatia (10.4%) and Italy (10.3%) also recorded notable shares. For other EU countries, it accounted for less than 10% of the total imports.
The presence of natural persons (mode 4) was most pronounced in Cyprus, and Denmark, each with a 7.3% share, and in Belgium (5.4%).
For more information
- Thematic section on international trade in services
- Information on international supply of services by mode of supply
- Database on international trade in services
Methodological notes
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The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), the first multilateral agreement to cover trade in services, defines trade in services as the supply of a service through any of 4 modes of supply:
- Mode 1 - cross-border supply: from the territory of one country into the territory of another country;
- Mode 2 - consumption abroad: in the territory of one country to the service consumer of another country;
- Mode 3 - commercial presence: by a service supplier of one country, through a commercial presence in the territory of another country. The foreign affiliates statistics (FATS) framework is designed to provide information on the activities of enterprises located in foreign markets;
- Mode 4 - presence of natural persons: by a service supplier of one country, through the presence of natural persons of that country in the territory of any other country.
- For example, legal services may be supplied to the client (customer) by 4 separate modes: legal advice is provided to the client abroad through electronic channels (mode 1), the client from abroad comes to the lawyer's office (mode 2), the lawyer establishes an affiliate abroad to provide legal services (mode 3), the lawyer goes abroad to provide the legal service to the client (mode 4).
- Mode 3 imports for 2024 were estimated by Eurostat, using the Eurostat-WTO model and inward FATS data for 2023; expert judgement was used to estimate missing data.
- The complete methodology is described in the Eurostat modes of supply compilers guide.
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