EU Trade_Trade in goods – GW

The EU hosts the largest single market in the world. Home to 345 million people in 1993, it now numbers 447 million consumers and 31 million active companies. The Commission has stressed that trade within the single market accounts for 56 million European jobs, and the estimated economic benefits range between 8 % and 9 % of EU gross domestic product (GDP). Trade between Member States has risen steadily, with the share of intra-EU exports varying between Member States. For some countries, more than 80 % of their trade is with other Member States (Figure 1). In 2023, intra-EU exports in goods were worth €4 126 billion, intra-EU exports in services were worth €1 348 billion. Intra-EU investments were worth €8 163 billion (data for 2021). Furthermore, in the EU 27, 3.7 % of employees hold the citizenship of an EU country other than the one in which they work, and 2.4 % of tertiary level students come from a different EU country than that in which they are studying. The economic importance of the single market, combined with EU regulatory leadership and its ability to shape international standards in line with EU values, interests and legislation gives rise to what is sometimes referred to as the ‘Brussels effect’, through which the EU is able to project its interests globally, as some third countries adopt ‘EU-style regulations’.