EU records larger surplus in high-tech products
The European Union exported €566.5 billion worth of high-tech products in 2025, compared with €534.1 billion in imports.
The European Union recorded a €32.4 billion trade surplus in high-tech products in 2025. Growth was driven mainly by pharmaceuticals, aviation and scientific instruments, while the EU remains heavily dependent on imports for electronics and computers.
According to Eurostat, EU countries exported €566.5 billion worth of high-tech products to countries outside the Union in 2025. Imports amounted to €534.1 billion. This resulted in a positive balance of €32.4 billion, following four consecutive years in which the EU ran a deficit, from 2020 through 2023.
The figures cover products whose production requires relatively high levels of research and development. These include pharmaceuticals, aviation products, electronics, telecommunications, computers, scientific instruments and certain machinery. The figures therefore do not concern only semiconductors or artificial intelligence.
European production of high-tech products amounted to €532 billion in 2025. In 2015, it stood at €287 billion. Eurostat measures the value of sold production; this is not the same as the added value created entirely in Europe. Components and raw materials may have been made elsewhere.
Dependence varies sharply by product group and trading partner. China accounted for 28 per cent of high-tech imports from outside the EU, worth €150.4 billion. The United States was the largest destination for European high-tech exports, at €195.1 billion, or 34 per cent of the total.
Pharmaceutical products made up a large share of exports to the United States. From China, the EU mainly imported electronics, telecommunications products and computers. The positive overall balance therefore does not mean that Europe is self-sufficient or competitive in all strategic technologies.
The statistics are relevant to the debate on European economic security. The EU exports many knowledge-intensive products, but remains dependent on foreign suppliers for certain digital and electronic goods. Eurostat describes trade flows and draws no conclusion about the causes of the surplus or its sustainability.
One story, several perspectives
What is established
- The EU recorded a €32.4 billion high-tech trade surplus in 2025.
- The EU imported relatively large amounts of electronics and computers from China.
- Pharmaceutical products made up a large share of exports to the United States.
Left
Arguments A surplus is no reason to abandon industrial policy. Europe must protect public investment, working conditions and strategic production so that growth does not mainly benefit shareholders and the EU does not remain dependent on foreign technology.
Values Economic equality, public accountability and strategic autonomy.
Consequences More support and conditions could anchor production and jobs in Europe, but may increase costs and prompt trading partners to take countermeasures.
Centre
Arguments The figures show both strength and vulnerability. The institutional approach focuses on investment in research and critical supply chains, while keeping trade open where this benefits the European economy and consumers.
Values Resilience, evidence-based policy and international cooperation.
Consequences A targeted approach could reduce dependencies without politicising all trade, but requires choices about which technologies are genuinely strategic.
Right
Arguments The surplus shows that European companies can compete internationally without heavy protection. Policymakers should focus on lower energy costs, fewer regulations and a favourable investment climate rather than subsidising national champions.
Values Competition, entrepreneurship and the efficient use of public money.
Consequences Greater reliance on market forces could accelerate innovation, but may leave the EU vulnerable to sudden disruptions in sectors where European companies lack a dominant position.
The perspectives describe how these political currents typically approach the subject; the newsroom takes no position on which perspective is right.
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The trade amounts, growth figures and partner countries can be found directly in the Eurostat publication. The text explicitly distinguishes between trade value, product groups and economic dependence.
- confirmed The EU exported €566.5 billion worth of high-tech products in 2025. — Eurostat gives this amount in its publication of 6 October 2026. source
- confirmed The EU imported €534.1 billion worth of high-tech products in 2025. — Eurostat gives this amount in the same publication. source
- confirmed The trade surplus amounted to €32.4 billion. — The amount follows from the trade values published by Eurostat. source
- confirmed China accounted for 28 per cent of high-tech imports from outside the EU. — Eurostat gives the figure as 28 per cent and €150.4 billion. source
- confirmed The United States was the largest destination for EU high-tech exports. — Eurostat gives the figure as €195.1 billion and 34 per cent of exports. source
Editor's note
The amounts and trading relationships come from Eurostat and are summarised by a second public source. The figures describe trade value, not the full economic value created in the EU.Sources
- EU high-tech trade surplus up to €32.4 billion in 2025 — Eurostat
- EU high-tech trade swings further into surplus as exports reach €566.5 billion — Centre for European Democracy Studies
More on this in Dutch media
- de Volkskrant — „hightech handel”
- NU.nl — „hightech handel”
- De Telegraaf — „hightech handel”