(21 November 2017) – Small and medium sized enterprises are responsible for half the value of the intra-EU trade in goods. In detail, they account for 51% of intra-EU imports and 45% of intra-EU exports.
Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs – up to 249 persons employed) substantially contribute to trade within the EU. 98% of companies trading goods within the EU are SMEs, including around 70% that are micro-enterprises (up to 9 persons employed).
In five Member States, SMEs generate more than two-thirds of the total value of intra-EU exports of goods: Cyprus (88%) and Latvia (81%), followed by Belgium (70%), Estonia (68%) and the Netherlands (67%). At the opposite end of the spectrum, SMEs account for less than one third of intra-EU export value in France (21%), Germany (26%), Slovakia (30%) and Ireland (32%).
Micro-enterprises are the largest contributors to intra-EU exports in six Member States: Belgium (where micro-enterprises account for 46% of total intra-EU export value), Malta (37% in 2013), Hungary (26%), the United Kingdom (23%), Romania and Sweden (both 19%). In contrast, in ten Member States they generate less than 10% of total value: France, Germany, Finland (all around 4%).