BRUSSELS: In 2023, the EU imported pound 478 billion worth of high-tech products, a slight decrease compared with 2022 (-1 percent). At the same time, exports reached pound 461 billion (+3 percent compared with 2022), according to figures released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Over half of the EU’s high-tech imports in 2023 came from China (32 percent; pound 155 billion) and the United States (23 percent; pound 108 billion), with other top partners being Switzerland (7 percent; pound 31 billion), Taiwan (6 percent; pound 28 billion) and the United Kingdom and Vietnam (each 4 percent; pound 20 and pound 19 billion respectively).

Electronics-telecommunications accounted for the largest share of high-tech imports from non-EU countries (39 percent), for which China was the largest partner. Computers and office machines as well as pharmacy both accounted for 15 percent of high-tech imports, most of which came from China and the United States respectively. Electronics-telecommunicatio
ns made up the largest share of imports from Vietnam (73 percent of high-tech imports from Vietnam; pound 14 billion), Taiwan and China (each 58 percent; pound 16 billion and pound 89 billion, respectively).

For Switzerland, the largest category was pharmacy (70 percent of high-tech imports from Switzerland; pound 22 billion). For the United States (35 percent; pound 37 billion) and the United Kingdom (30 percent; pound 6 billion), it was aerospace.

In 2023, the United States was the top trading partner (28 percent; pound 128 billion) for high-tech exports to non-EU countries. China followed (11 percent; pound 49 billion), ahead of the United Kingdom (10 percent; pound 44 billion), Switzerland (6 percent; pound 28 billion), Japan and Trkiye (each 3 percent; pound 15 billion and pound 14 billion, respectively).

Pharmacy made up the largest share (30 percent) of overall high-tech exports to non-EU countries, with the United States being the top partner. Electronics-telecommunications (20 percent) and aerospa
ce (18 percent) followed, with China and the United States as the leading partners in these sectors respectively.

Source: Emirates News Agency