In 2023, imported services from outside the EU totalled €3 344 billion. This information comes from official statistics on the international trade in services (ITS) by modes of supply (MOS) published for the first time for modes 1, 2 and 4 and provides an overview of 'how' services are exchanged across countries and 'where' services are supplied to foreign customers.
When analyzing by mode of supply, data show that 60% (€1 996 billion) of the EU's imports of services were related to the commercial presence (mode 3), 31% (€1 030 billion) to cross-border supply (mode 1), 6% (€ 0.215 billion) to consumption abroad (mode 2) and 3% (€0.103 billion) to the presence of natural persons (mode 4).
Source dataset: ext_ser_mos
Among EU countries, in 2023, cross-border supply (mode 1) was dominant in Greece (68% of imports), Cyprus (44%) and Ireland (39%).
Consumption abroad (mode 2) was more significant in Denmark (where it accounted for 22% of imports), Croatia (13%), France (12%) and Italy (10%). For the rest of the EU countries, it accounted for less than 10% of the total imports. The largest contributors to mode 2 are some types of transport services and travel.
On the other hand, commercial presence (mode 3) accounted for 79% of imports in Hungary, 78% in Bulgaria, followed by 77% in Slovakia and Romania.
The presence of natural persons (mode 4) registered the lowest shares among all 4 modes of supply. It was more significant in Cyprus (8%), and Denmark and Malta (each 6%). For all other EU countries, it accounted for less than 5% of their services imports.
Source: Eurostat, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/product?code=ddn-20250402-2
