International Trade of the EU: world goods exports share by product group 2002-2023

The European Union makes up a declining share of the world economy in the 21st century. In the two decades since 2002, the EU share of world exports has declined consistently from around 19 percent, to less than 15 percent in the early 2020s. This decline has been driven by large drops in the share of EU exports in machinery & transport equipment, as well as in other manufactured goods. While these declines reflect the EU's declining importance in relation to other global economic superpowers, notably to China, it does not mean that the absolute level of EU exports is declining. On the contrary, the absolute value of EU exports grew over this period, but at a slower rate than the growth of overall world exports, hence the decline.

在21世纪，欧洲联盟在世界经济中所占的份额呈下降趋势。自2002年以来，经过二十年的发展，欧盟在世界出口中所占比重持续下降，从约19%降至2020年代初的不足15%。这一下降趋势主要源于欧盟在机械与运输设备以及其他制成品出口中所占份额的大幅减少。尽管这些下降反映了欧盟相对于其他全球经济强国，尤其是中国的重要性逐渐减弱，但这并不意味着欧盟的出口绝对水平在下降。相反，在此期间，欧盟的出口绝对值有所增长，但增速低于全球出口的整体增长，因此呈现出下降态势。