BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 6. In 2023, the
European Union imported services worth a total of €3.344 billion,
according to newly published data from Eurostat, Trend reports.
This marks the first release of official statistics on the
international trade in services (ITS) by modes of supply (MOS),
providing valuable insights into how services are exchanged across
countries and the geographical distribution of these services.
Breaking down the imports by modes of supply, the data reveals
that the largest share of imports, 60% (€1,996 billion), came from
services provided through commercial presence. Following this, 31%
(€1,030 billion) of the EU’s service imports were related to
cross-border supply, which involves services being provided
remotely from one country to another without the need for a
physical presence.
Consumption abroad, which refers to services consumed by EU
residents while abroad, accounted for 6% (€215 billion) of total
imports. The remaining 3% (€103 million) were services linked to
the presence of natural persons, where individuals travel to
another country to supply services.
When examining the data by individual EU countries, certain
trends emerge. Greece, Cyprus, and Ireland stood out with
cross-border supply accounting for significant portions of their
imports—68%, 44%, and 39% respectively. For some countries,
consumption abroad was more notable. Denmark, for instance, saw 22%
of its imports come from this mode, followed by Croatia (13%),
France (12%), and Italy (10%).
The data also highlights that commercial presence was the
dominant mode for countries like Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, and
Romania, with these nations reporting higher-than-average imports
in this category—79% in Hungary, 78% in Bulgaria, and 77% in
Slovakia and Romania.
