Between 2011 and 2021, the total sold production of chemicals in the EU increased by €232 billion in terms of value, reaching a peak of €769 billion in 2021, following strong growth between 2019 and 2020 from €626 billion to €768 billion, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
In the same ten year-period, sold production grew in all groups. Both in absolute and relative terms, the largest increase was for medical products, rising from €116 billion in 2011 to €211 billion in 2021, equivalent to annual average growth of 6.1 percent. Organic chemicals (1.1 percent) had the lowest growth rate whereas chemical materials and products (6.0 percent) had the second largest growth rate.
Looking back to the last 10 years, EU chemical exports were significantly higher than imports, rising from €266 billion in 2011 to €459 billion in 2021, with an average annual export growth of 5.6 percent. Among the EU Member States, Germany was the largest extra-EU exporter of chemicals in 2021 (€121 billion); this was also the case in the previous year. Germany’s share in total EU chemical exports was 26 percent, followed by Belgium (15 percent share of total EU exports; €67 billion), Ireland (12 percent; €56 billion), France (10 percent; €48 billion) and the Netherlands (9 percent; €42 billion).
The United States, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and China were the EU’s four largest partners for exports and imports of chemicals in 2021.
The United States was the main extra-EU export destination for EU chemicals (€115 billion), followed by the UK (€46 billion), Switzerland (€40 billion), China (€33 billion) and Russia (€20 billion).
Over ten years, imports of chemicals into the EU increased from €172 billion (2011) to €271 billion (2021), with imports growing every year except in 2013 and 2020. The average annual growth in imports over a decade was 4.7 percent.
In 2011, the largest subgroup in imports of chemicals was medical and pharmaceutical products with €59 billion, rising to €100 billion in 2021 – an average annual growth rate of 5.4 percent. Plastics in primary form had an equal growth rate while chemical materials and products (6.0 percent) grew fastest in this period.
Source: Emirates News Agency
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