Data extracted in July 2025.
Planned article update: October 2026.
Highlights
This article analyses statistics on international trade in sporting goods for the EU. Data are also presented for the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries, candidate countries and the potential candidate country (Kosovo*). This analysis covers data from 2019 and 2024 showing:
- export and import values in absolute and relative terms (in € million and as a share of total trade);
- extra-EU and intra-EU trade;
- the type of goods traded;
- EU's main trading partners.
Statistics on international trade in sporting goods are based on data extracted from COMEXT, Eurostat’s database on international trade in goods.
* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.
The value of extra-EU trade in sporting goods in 2024
In 2024, the EU’s trade in sporting goods (the sum of extra-EU exports and imports) with the rest of the world was valued at €18.1 billion (€7.3 billion of exports and €10.8 billion of imports, see Table 1). Both imports and exports increased compared with 2019: a higher growth was recorded for exports rather than imports (+13.2% against +5.9%), corresponding to an increase of €0.9 billion for exports against €0.5 billion for imports. Looking at the overall figure, the extra-EU’s trade deficit (imports exceeding exports) in sporting goods decreased by €0.3 billion, from €3.7 billion in 2019 to €3.4 billion in 2024 (see Table 1). In the 5 years between 2019 and 2024, there were some relevant changes in the trade balance of sporting goods.
For exports
- the largest relative increase in sporting goods exports was in the 'golf equipment' category, in which the exports more than doubled with a 108.7% growth between 2019 and 2024, followed by ‘racket sports equipment’ (+76.6%) and ’boats and water sport equipment’ (+52.4%)
- in absolute terms, the 'boats and water sport equipment' category had the highest growth, with an increase of €0.8 billion between 2019 and 2024
- the only category recording a decrease in exports between 2019 and 2024 was 'sports footwear', which lost around €0.6 billion (-37.6%) of its value
For imports
- as for exports, the 'golf equipment' category had the highest relative increase, almost doubling its imports with a +96.3% growth in the 5 years (around €195 million), followed by 'racket sports equipment' (+58.2%)
- in absolute terms, the 'gymnastic, athletic and swimming equipment' category had the highest growth, with an increase of €343 million between 2019 and 2024; in addition, also the 'boats and water sport equipment' registered a growth higher than €300 million
- 4 categories recorded a decrease in imports between 2019 and 2024: 'sports footwear', which lost around €0.5 billion (-14.9%) of its value, 'bicycle', with a decrease of €155 million (-16.4%), 'skis and related equipment', with a decrease of €9 million (-3.9%), and 'skates', with a decrease of €7 million (-5.5%)
International trade in sporting goods at national level – 13 EU countries with a positive trade balance
At national level, in 2024, a trade surplus (concerning intra- and extra-EU trade) was recorded in 13 countries and a trade deficit (imports exceeding exports) in 14 countries (see Table 2). The largest trade surplus in absolute terms, with almost €1.4 billion, belonged to Belgium, followed by Italy with €0.7 billion. Belgium had the largest trade surplus also in 2019.
Luxembourg recorded the highest cover ratio (exports/imports), with exports 2.7 times higher than imports. In addition to Luxembourg, Belgium (1.7), Bulgaria, Lithuania and Portugal (1.6) were countries with cover ratios greater than 1.5. Spain (with almost €0.9 billion) and Germany (with almost €0.8 billion) recorded the largest deficits of trade in sporting goods, while Malta (0.02) Ireland (0.1) and Cyprus (0.2) had the lowest cover ratios.
In 2024, Germany was the EU’s largest exporter of sporting goods in terms of value, with exports around €4.3 billion (€0.4 billion more than in 2019), followed by the Netherlands with €3.9 billion (€1.2 billion more than in 2019) and Belgium with €3.5 billion (€0.1 billion less than in 2019). The largest importers were Germany (€5.1 billion, €0.2 billion less than in 2019), France with €4.0 billion (€0.5 billion more than in 2019) and the Netherlands with €3.5 billion (€0.7 billion more than in 2019, the highest increase).
The high ranking on the list of EU sporting goods importers, of medium-size countries like the Netherlands and Belgium is due to the impact of quasi-transit of goods, the 'Rotterdam effect', affecting countries with large ports at the EU’s external border (for more details, see the methodology/metadata section).
EU International trade in sporting goods between 2019 and 2024
Looking at the EU international trade in sporting goods within the past 5 years (see Figure 1), both imports and exports remained stable in 2020 compared to 2019 (only -€0.1 billion difference for exports), before registering a notable increase in 2021 and 2022, particularly for imports (increase of €4 billion in 2022 compared with 2020). In 2023, compared with 2022, exports continued their growth by €0.2 billion while imports declined by €3.5 billion, going back almost to the 2020 value. From 2023 to 2024 however their trends were reversed, with exports dropping by €0.4 billion and imports registering a slight recovery (€0.1 billion).
In relative terms, the imports of sporting goods as a share of total imports increased between 2019 and 2020, before slightly decreasing in 2021 and dropping consistently both in 2022 and 2023, where it accounted almost at 0.4% (the lowest value of this trend series). While the decrease in imports in 2023 also involved the total EU trade, it was more significant for the imports in sporting goods. Following the slight increase in absolute terms for imports, in 2024 also the share of total imports started to increase again.
The share of exports was more stable from 2019 to 2024, peaking in 2020 at 0.3% before starting a slight decrease in 2021 and in 2022, when it went under 0.3%. From 2022 to 2023 it went back to 0.3%, before dropping again below 0.3% in 2024.
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(% of total extra-EU trade and € billion)
Source: Eurostat (sprt_trd_prd)
Between 2019 and 2024, the annual average growth rate (AAGR) of the EU international trade in sporting goods (excluding intra-EU trade) was 2.5% for exports and 1.0% for imports. The annual average growth rate of the value for exports of sporting goods (also including intra-EU trade) was positive in 25 countries, with 3 registering average annual growth rates over 15%: Luxembourg (with +30.4%), Cyprus (+19.4%) and Ireland (+16.6%) (see Figure 2). On the other hand, in Bulgaria (-1.9%) and Belgium (-0.5%) the annual average growth rate was negative. As regards Luxembourg, Cyprus and Malta, their relatively low volumes of sporting trade could lead to significant fluctuations for rates of change from one year to another.
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(%)
Source: Eurostat (sprt_trd_prd)
Regarding imports over the same period, 25 countries registered a positive value, with the highest increases in Malta (+29.8%) and Croatia (+13.3%), followed by Ireland, Bulgaria and Cyprus where the average annual growth rate of imports passed the 10% threshold. Belgium (-1.9%) and Germany (-0.9%) were the only countries with a negative annual average growth rate (see Figure 3).
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(%)
Source: Eurostat (sprt_trd_prd)
Intra-EU and extra-EU trade in sporting goods
In most countries, the value of intra-EU trade in sporting goods was greater than the value of extra-EU trade in sporting goods
The international trade of countries can be analysed from 2 perspectives: intra-EU trade (between the countries) and extra-EU trade (with non-EU countries). The relation between the 2 is an indication of the heterogeneity of a country’s trade patterns and, to some extent, may reflect historical ties and geographical location.
Looking at exports in 2024, almost three-quarters of the EU’s total trade in sporting goods was intra-EU (74.1%). At country level, intra-EU trade accounted for most exports in 25 of the countries: the figures ranged from 54.2% in Italy to 94.0% in Luxembourg (see Figure 4). Belgium (93.1% intra-EU trade) and Romania (92.6%) were the other countries where the share of extra-EU trade was below 10%. By contrast, only Ireland (26.9%, mainly due to its significant amount of trade in sporting goods to the United Kingdom) and Finland (45.5%) recorded less intra-EU than extra-EU exports.
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(%)
Source: Eurostat (sprt_trd_prd)
For the whole EU, intra-EU imports accounted for 63.1% of the international trade in sporting goods. Looking at individual countries, in 23 of the 27 countries, the value of intra-EU imports of sporting goods was greater than the value of extra-EU imports. Intra-EU import shares for these countries varied from 59.7% in Luxembourg to 89.7% in Slovakia. 4 countries imported more sporting goods from outside the EU than from inside (see Figure 5): the Netherlands, Malta, Ireland and Belgium.
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(%)
Source: Eurostat (sprt_trd_prd)
Trade in sporting goods by product
Boats and water sport equipment were the sporting goods most exported outside the EU
The list of sporting goods that are traded internationally contains the equipment necessary for doing sports (e.g. skis or balls), clothing (e.g. swimwear or footwear) and some articles that can be used for sport and leisure activities (e.g. boats and water sports equipment, bicycles or fishing equipment).
The 3 main groups of sporting goods, among those analysed here, are 'boats and water sport equipment', 'gymnastic, athletic and swimming equipment' and 'sports footwear'. In 2024, they generated two-thirds of the value of extra-EU exports, with 'boats and water sport equipment' accounting for 30.1% of the total value (see Table 3).
At national level, in 2024, taking into account both intra-EU exports and extra-EU exports
- ’boats and water sport equipment’ had the largest share in exports of sporting goods in 7 countries, accounting for at least half of total exports of the sporting products value in Malta (87.1%) and Cyprus (50.0%)
- 'gymnastic, athletic and swimming equipment' was the main type of sporting good being exported in 8 countries, accounting for more than half of total exports of sporting products value in Slovakia (52.0%)
- products in the 'sports footwear' category accounted for the largest share of total sporting goods exports in Luxembourg (97.9%), followed by Belgium (75.5%), Germany (33.7%), the Netherlands (28.0%), Ireland (25.4%) and Italy (25.2%)
- 'skis and related equipment' were the principal sporting goods exported from Austria (52.3%) and Romania (37.0%)
- 'bicycles' were the most exported type of sporting good (in terms of trade value) from Portugal (58.2%), Lithuania (37.6%) and Bulgaria (30.4%)
- the 'sportswear' category amounted to the highest share of total sporting goods export value in Croatia (45.6%)
- in Estonia, products belonging to the 'fishing equipment' category accounted for 44.8% of the total value of national exports in sporting goods.
Sports footwear and gymnastic, athletic and swimming equipment accounted for over half of the value of extra-EU imports of sporting goods
In 2024, the 2 main groups of sporting goods accounted for over half of the value of extra-EU imports (see Table 4). The 'sports footwear' category represented the highest share of imports with 27.5% of all imported sporting goods, followed by 'gymnastic, athletic and swimming equipment' (25.9%).
After analysing imports in individual countries (taking into account both intra-EU imports and extra-EU imports), the following results can be highlighted
- for 20 countries, imported 'sports footwear' goods generated the highest value, accounting for 65.7% of the total value of imports of sporting goods in Luxembourg
- 'gymnastic, athletic and swimming equipment' imports had the highest value of all imported sporting goods in Sweden (31.0%), Finland (28.6%), Hungary (28.3%), and Lithuania (24.5%)
- Malta (89.8%) and Croatia (48.0%) imported more 'boats and water sport equipment' in terms of value than any other type of sporting good.
The EU’s principal partners for trade in sporting goods
The United States overtook the United Kingdom as the leading destination for EU exports of sporting goods
When considering the aggregate trade of all countries, most of the value from sporting goods is generated within the European single market (see Figure 4 and Figure 5).
In 2024, in terms of value, the leading extra-EU destinations for sporting goods were the United States (22.5%), the United Kingdom (13.0%) and Switzerland (11.8%), accounting for almost half of the total value of exports of sporting goods. Exports to any of the other extra-EU trade partners accounted for less than 10% (see Figure 6).
Compared with 2019, in 2024, the United States’ share of the total value of exports of sporting goods increased by 5.9 percentage points (pp), while for the United Kingdom it decreased by 12.9 pp (it should be noted that the United Kingdom was part of the EU in 2019). The majority of the other main partners were able to increase their share of exports of sporting goods from 2019 to 2024, notably Türkiye by 3.2 pp; the only exceptions were the Cayman Islands (down by 0.9 pp) and Norway (down by 0.5 pp).
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(%)
Source: Eurostat (sprt_trd_prt)
Almost half of EU imports of sporting goods came from China
Figure 7 shows the extra-EU’s 10 main partners for imports of sporting goods. In 2024, 42.3% of the total value of EU imports of sporting goods was generated by imports from China, increasing by 3.5 pp since 2019. The second highest share belonged to Vietnam (17.4%), which increased by 1.8 pp from 2019, followed by Indonesia with 5.1% (down by 0.6 pp from 2019).
As for exports, the United Kingdom’s share in the total value of EU imports of sporting goods significantly decreased, falling from 10.9% in 2019 (third highest partner of the EU) to 4.8% in 2024. In addition to the United Kingdom and Indonesia, Taiwan and Cambodia were the other main partners experiencing a decrease in their share of imports of sporting goods from 2019 to 2024.
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(%)
Source: Eurostat (sprt_trd_prt)
Extra-EU sporting goods' trade flows by category of product
Exports to leading countries by category
In 2024, as shown in Figure 8, boats and water sport equipment were the most exported sporting products outside the EU. In terms of value, the United States was the first extra-EU country to which these products were directed, while other important trade partners for these products were the Cayman Islands, Türkiye and the United Kingdom. With a value of around €2.2 billion euros, boats and water sport equipment accounted for almost one-third of the total extra-EU exports of sporting goods.
While the United States, the United Kingdom and Switzerland were the largest EU trade partners for all categories of products, exports of sporting goods in 2024 were directed towards a high number of countries. As shown in the chart, a value of €2 billion from sporting goods was exported to countries that were not among the top 10 main EU partners (categorised as ’others’). This value was mostly from boats and water sport equipment, gymnastic, athletic and swimming equipment and sport footwear.
While most of the categories of sporting goods were distributed to several extra-EU countries, the case of sporting shotguns was characterised by a concentration of exports towards the United States and half of the exports of bicycles was directed towards Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In addition, the exports of sporting goods to the Cayman Islands consisted almost exclusively of boats and water sport equipment.
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Source: Eurostat (sprt_trd_prt)
Imports from leading countries by category
Figure 9 illustrates the categories of sporting products by country of import. In 2024, China was the major EU trade partner for the imports of sporting goods. The chart shows that almost half of the value of the products imported from China was from gymnastic, athletic and swimming equipment, while the rest was distributed among all the other categories.
In contrast to the composition of exports, imports from some extra-EU countries showed a more pronounced product-specific structure. Almost the entire value of the imports from Vietnam and Indonesia in 2024 was from sports footwear, while for Taiwan significant shares of imported sporting products consisted of bicycles and for Cambodia sports footwear and bicycles accounted for over 80% of imports of sporting products. In addition, almost two-thirds of the value of imports from Pakistan belonged to the balls category.
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Source: Eurostat (sprt_trd_prt)
Source data for tables and graphs
Data sources
International trade statistics are stored in COMEXT, Eurostat’s database for international trade in goods. COMEXT contains statistics on goods traded between Member States (intra-EU trade) and goods traded by Member States with non-EU countries (extra-EU trade). The trade values for other political or geographical entities, such as the EFTA and candidate countries are also collected. The COMEXT database is built around 6 main dimensions
• reporter (country declaring commercial transactions)
• partner (trade partners of the declaring country — all countries of the world)
• flow (exports and imports)
• product (items by HS, CN or SITC, BEC and CPA depending on the dataset);
• time (annual and monthly data)
• type of indicator (the value or quantity of traded products)
Based on the number of dimensions available in the COMEXT database, the following indicators are compiled for imports and exports of sporting goods
• value of trade in thousands of euros (THS_EUR)
• percentage of country's total trade (PC_TOT)
• percentage of total EU trade (PC_EU27_2020)
• percentage of total sport trade — at country and EU level (PC)
The data are compiled for the following trade partners
• intra-EU
• extra-EU
• world (intra-EU and extra-EU)
• main extra-EU trading partners
Unit of measure
Trade values are expressed in millions of euros. They correspond to the statistical value, i.e. the amount which would be invoiced in the case of sale or purchase at the national border of the reporting country. It is called an FOB value (free on board) for exports and a CIF value (cost, insurance, freight) for imports.
Identification of sporting goods
The identification of the list of sporting goods is based on the Vilnius Definition of sport, the Study on the Contribution of Sport to Economic Growth and Employment in the EU and the 2009 UNESCO Framework for Culture statistics (which considers sport as a domain related to culture). Internationally traded sports-related items are selected using the HS classification. They are then aggregated into meaningful groups according to sporting disciplines or specific sports equipment and accessories.
The groups of products (covered by HS 6-digit codes) are the following: i) skis and related equipment; ii) skates; iii) boats and water sport equipment; iv) golf equipment; v) racket sports (tennis and badminton) equipment; vi) balls; vii) gymnastic, athletic and swimming equipment; viii) fishing equipment; ix) bicycles; x) parachutes; xi) sportswear; xii) footwear; and xiii) sporting shotguns.
Regarding the ’boats and water sport equipment’ category, the CN codes 8903 92, 8903 31, 8903 32 and 8903 33 (Motorboats, other than outboard motorboats for pleasure or sports) have been excluded due to anomalies in trade exchanges identified for these codes.
For a detailed list of aggregates of sport products, see Table 5 and the metadata on international trade in sporting goods.
Source: Eurostat (International trade in sporting goods (sprt_trd)) (ESMS metadata file — sprt_trd)
The impact of quasi-transit 'Rotterdam effect'
The trade flows of EU Member States may be overvalued because of the quasi-transit trade. However, the trade balance of the Member State concerned is not affected, as quasi-transit should increase by the same amount as the intra- and extra-EU trade flows (extra-EU imports followed by dispatches to the Member State of actual destination or arrivals from the Member State of actual export followed by extra-EU exports to the country of actual destination). Quasi-transit is known to affect mostly the Member States with large ports located at the EU’s external border, particularly the Netherlands, which is why its impact on figures is known as the ’Rotterdam effect’. In the case of imports, the goods destined for other Member States arriving in Dutch ports are recorded, according to EU rules, as extra-EU imports by the Netherlands (the country where goods are released for free circulation) and as dispatches from the Netherlands to the Member States of actual destination, even though there is no link with the Dutch economy. Quasi-transit is known to influence more the imports, but exports are also affected. In exceptional cases, the customs clearance occurs not in the actual Member State of export but in the Member State of exit, i.e. the Member State from which the goods are taken out of the EU customs territory.
Context
The multiannual work programme (EU work plan for Sport for 2024-2027) agreed by the EU Council, sets the priorities and principles for cooperation on sport between the European Commission and the Member States.
Several expert groups have been set up to achieve concrete results. Among them, the Expert Group on the Economic Dimension of Sport (XG ECO) and the Expert Group on Health-Enhancing Physical Activity (XG HEPA) play a key role in implementing evidence-based policies in the sports sector. XG ECO, for example, has developed an economic definition of sport ('Vilnius definition'), and made progress towards developing Sport Satellite Accounts in some EU countries. XG HEPA is working on implementing the Council recommendations on physical activity adopted in 2013. These include a monitoring framework with indicators both for the level of physical activity and for policies to promote physical activity in EU countries. Eurostat comparable data on international trade, employment in sport, participation in sporting activities, etc. make a valuable contribution to the monitoring and development of the EU's policies in this area.
Explore further
Other articles
- Employment in sport
- Enterprises in the sports sector
- Sport participation - practicing sport and physical activity
- Sport participation - attending live sporting events
- Consumer prices of recreational and sporting goods and services
- Government expenditure on recreational and sporting services
- Culture (all Statistics Explained articles on culture)
Database
- Intra and extra-EU trade in sporting goods by product (sprt_trd_prd)
- Intra and extra-EU trade in sporting goods by product and partner (sprt_trd_prt)
Thematic section
Publications
Methodology
For a detailed list of aggregates of sport products, see the metadata on trade in sporting goods.