The European Union (EU) exported services worth €1.44 trillion to countries outside the bloc in 2023, according to new figures from Eurostat.
The data, based on the EU’s Services Trade by Enterprise Characteristics (STEC) statistics, reveal that large enterprises and foreign-controlled firms were the main drivers of this performance, with Ireland standing out as one of the EU leaders.
More than half (53.5%) of EU service exports were generated by large enterprises employing 250 or more people.
In contrast, small businesses with fewer than 50 employees contributed just 14.2% of total service exports, while medium-sized enterprises accounted for 10%.
A further 22.3% came from companies whose size category was not specified.
Large enterprises dominated exports in ten EU countries, with Germany leading the way at 72.8%, followed by Finland (66.7%) and Denmark (66.0%).
However, smaller firms were the driving force in Malta and Estonia, where they were responsible for 68.4% and 59.6% of service exports respectively.
The data also highlight the significant role of foreign-controlled enterprises in shaping the EU’s external trade in services.
These firms — defined as being controlled by owners based outside the reporting country — accounted for the majority of service exports in nine EU member states.
Luxembourg had the highest share of foreign-controlled exports at 88.6%, followed closely by Ireland at 79.1% and the Netherlands at 63.7%.
By contrast, domestically controlled firms took the lead in Denmark (70%), Finland (62.3%), Malta (59.8%) and France (59.3%).
More than half (53.5%) of EU service exports were generated by large enterprises employing 250 or more people.
Ireland’s strong showing reflects its highly internationalised economy, where multinational corporations play a dominant role in services such as ICT, financial services, and professional consultancy — key pillars of the country’s export strength.
The STEC dataset offers deeper insights into how enterprise size and ownership structure influence trade flows, providing valuable information for policymakers assessing competitiveness and the role of SMEs in Europe’s global services trade