Strengthening economic resilience, reducing strategic dependencies and gaining greater control over key sectors have repeatedly ranked among the EU’s top priorities. But the reality of a globalised economy is more complicated: Europe’s prosperity is increasingly intertwined with the rest of the world, and millions of jobs depend on what customers outside Europe choose to buy.
The numbers highlight the challenge Europe faces: finding the right balance between greater economic security and preserving the benefits of global trade. In 2024, EU exports to countries outside the bloc generated €2.9 trillion in gross value added, according to the latest Eurostat data. That represented 17.9 per cent of the EU’s total gross value added, which stood at €16.2 trillion.
At the same time, those exports supported 32.9 million jobs, or 15 per cent of all jobs in the EU. And their share has been steadily increasing: in 2010, it was 12.1 per cent of jobs.
The impact of foreign demand goes far beyond companies that directly sell their products abroad. It reaches entire supply chains – from component manufacturers and logistics providers to the services that help produce goods and deliver services to customers outside the EU.
The US remains most important non-EU market
Demand from the United States continues to play the biggest role in supporting the European economy. In 2024, it generated €585.8 billion in EU value added and supported six million jobs.
The US therefore accounted for 21 per cent of all EU value added linked to final demand outside the bloc and 19.1 per cent of jobs tied to that demand.
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China and the United Kingdom followed behind. Chinese demand generated €289.8 billion in value added across the EU, while UK demand accounted for €276 billion. In employment terms, the UK supported 3.4 million EU jobs, while China supported 3.1 million.
The figures show just how deeply the EU’s economy is connected to its biggest trading partners at a time when Brussels is trying to reduce the risks linked to excessive reliance on foreign markets and suppliers.
Germany is the winner of export economy
In absolute terms, Germany captured the largest share of the value created by exports outside the EU. In 2024, extra-EU exports generated €675.8 billion in value added for the German economy; more than France and Ireland combined, the two next biggest performers.
France generated €389.3 billion in value added from exports outside the EU, followed by Ireland with €280.8 billion, Italy with €271 billion and the Netherlands with €231.6 billion.
The figures reflect both the size of Germany’s economy and its deep integration into global supply chains, particularly in industries such as automotive manufacturing, engineering and technology production.
Growth but also vulnerability
Europe’s trade with the world is not simply about selling finished products abroad. Modern supply chains mean that value is often created step by step across several countries and sectors.
According to Eurostat, in 2024 17.6 per cent of the value generated by EU exports came from cross-border, so-called spillover effects. For example, when exports from one member state support production elsewhere in the Union.
This interconnectedness has helped European economies benefit from globalisation. But it also makes them more exposed to shocks hitting international markets.
The debate over Europe’s strategic autonomy often focuses on the EU’s dependence on foreign suppliers of energy, raw materials and technologies. The new figures, however, highlight the other side of the relationship as well: Europe’s economy also depends on customers beyond its borders.
Greater resilience does not have to mean isolation. For an economy built on exports, access to global markets remains one of the key drivers of growth and employment.
