In 2024, the EU exported €1 579 billion worth of services to countries outside the EU, a 9.7% increase compared with 2023. Large enterprises with 250 or more employees were responsible for 41.7% of all exports. Small enterprises (up to 49 employees) accounted for 11.8% of exports, while medium-sized enterprises (50 to 249 employees) accounted for 9.0%. The remaining 37.4% of exported services came from enterprises of unknown size.
In 9 EU countries, large enterprises accounted for more than 50% of all services exported outside the EU, with the largest contributions recorded in Denmark (71.7%), Finland (71.2%), Germany (69.1%) and Slovakia (65.0%).
Small enterprises made more than half of the service exports in Malta (78.6%), Estonia (61.4%) and Luxembourg (56.8%).
This information comes from data on services trade by enterprise characteristics (STEC). This article presents a handful of findings from a more detailed Statistics Explained article on services trade by enterprise characteristics - STEC.
Enterprises working in information and communication lead the exports
EU exports of services to non-EU countries were led by enterprises whose primary operations were information and communication (22.9%; €362.0 billion), manufacturing (15.8%; €249.3 billion) and transportation and storage (15.0%; €236.2 billion). (....)