Main trading partners

Ranking the main trading partners is based on listing the trade of each EU country with the other countries in the world from high to low trade value in euros. Trade value is the sum of the export and import values.

The figures from this article come from Eurostat. Eurostat publishes the trade of EU countries with other countries including quasi transit trade flows. Statistics Netherlands published trade figures excluding quasi transit trade.
Eurostat and Statistics Netherlands base the import flows on the ‘countries of origin’. The German statistics bureau bases it on the country of production. According to this principle the German imports from the Netherlands is a much lower than when it is based on the ‘countries of origin’. This is why the Netherlands is the main trading partner of Germany according to Eurostat, but the second most important trading partner after France according to the German statistics bureau.