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With all 27 member states taken together, the EU would be the second-largest economy in the world in nominal terms, and third by purchasing power parity.

So which countries does this massive market trade with, and what goods do they send and receive?

This graphic visualizes the EU’s key trading partners by imports and exports, according to July 2024 trade data available on Eurostat.

Ranked: EU’s Import Sources & Export Markets

The U.S. and China—the world’s top two largest economies—together account for nearly one-third of the EU’s international trade. China is the biggest source of EU imports (€46 billion in July), and the U.S., the largest market for EU exports (€47 billion).

Electronics are the largest category of goods the EU imports from China, including mobile phones, computers, tablets, and storage devices. Meanwhile, the EU exports mainly medicines and cars to America, and as it happens, also to China, indicating strong overall exports in those two sectors.

Interestingly, the same countries pop up as major import and export partners for the EU, a reflection of strong bilateral trade ties. Unsurprisingly these nations are also either some of the world’s largest economies or part of the EU Free Trade agreement.

One notable country missing from the list is Russia. EU imports from, and exports to, the country in July neared €3 billion or about 1% of both the import bill and export receipt. Various sanctions post the Russian invasion have led to a reduced trade between the two entities.

Finally, the EU ran a trade surplus in July, to the tune of €21 billion.

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