Imports of goods and services (BoP, current US$) - Country Ranking - Europe

Definition: Imports of goods and services comprise all transactions between residents of a country and the rest of the world involving a change of ownership from nonresidents to residents of general merchandise, nonmonetary gold, and services. Data are in current U.S. dollars.

Source: International Monetary Fund, Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files.

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 Germany 1,451,650,000,000.00 2020
2 France 808,172,000,000.00 2020
3 United Kingdom 774,721,000,000.00 2020
4 Netherlands 616,298,000,000.00 2020
5 Italy 485,615,000,000.00 2020
6 Ireland 462,206,000,000.00 2020
7 Switzerland 416,573,000,000.00 2020
8 Belgium 410,261,000,000.00 2020
9 Spain 373,842,000,000.00 2020
10 Poland 295,897,000,000.00 2020
11 Turkey 285,555,000,000.00 2021
12 Sweden 218,674,000,000.00 2020
13 Austria 210,568,000,000.00 2020
14 Denmark 172,868,000,000.00 2020
15 Czech Republic 157,952,000,000.00 2020
16 Luxembourg 138,864,000,000.00 2021
17 Hungary 121,483,000,000.00 2020
18 Norway 119,632,000,000.00 2020
19 Finland 115,556,000,000.00 2021
20 Portugal 111,858,000,000.00 2021
21 Romania 103,901,000,000.00 2020
22 Slovak Republic 88,050,100,000.00 2020
23 Ukraine 84,034,000,000.00 2021
24 Greece 71,758,330,000.00 2020
25 Slovenia 48,033,390,000.00 2021
26 Belarus 45,487,000,000.00 2021
27 Bulgaria 38,199,440,000.00 2020
28 Lithuania 36,373,380,000.00 2020
29 Serbia 30,176,920,000.00 2020
30 Estonia 29,089,020,000.00 2021
31 Croatia 27,983,900,000.00 2020
32 Latvia 25,674,160,000.00 2021
33 Cyprus 19,341,050,000.00 2020
34 Malta 18,345,430,000.00 2020
35 North Macedonia 11,348,120,000.00 2021
36 Bosnia and Herzegovina 9,703,783,000.00 2020
37 Iceland 7,616,183,000.00 2020
38 Moldova 5,933,989,000.00 2020
39 Albania 5,671,286,000.00 2020
40 Montenegro 3,636,586,000.00 2021
41 Andorra 2,032,100,000.00 2019

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Development Relevance: The balance of payments records an economy’s transactions with the rest of the world. Balance of payments accounts are divided into two groups: the current account, which records transactions in goods, services, primary income, and secondary income, and the capital and financial account, which records capital transfers, acquisition or disposal of nonproduced, nonfinancial assets, and transactions in financial assets and liabilities. The current account balance is one of the most analytically useful indicators of an external imbalance. A primary purpose of the balance of payments accounts is to indicate the need to adjust an external imbalance. Where to draw the line for analytical purposes requires a judgment concerning the imbalance that best indicates the need for adjustment. There are a number of definitions in common use for this and related analytical purposes. The trade balance is the difference between exports and imports of goods. From an analytical view it is arbitrary to distinguish goods from services. For example, a unit of foreign exchange earned by a freight company strengthens the balance of payments to the same extent as the foreign exchange earned by a goods exporter. Even so, the trade balance is useful because it is often the most timely indicator of trends in the current account balance. Customs authorities are typically able to provide data on trade in goods long before data on trade in services are available.

Limitations and Exceptions: Discrepancies may arise in the balance of payments because there is no single source for balance of payments data and therefore no way to ensure that the data are fully consistent. Sources include customs data, monetary accounts of the banking system, external debt records, information provided by enterprises, surveys to estimate service transactions, and foreign exchange records. Differences in collection methods - such as in timing, definitions of residence and ownership, and the exchange rate used to value transactions - contribute to net errors and omissions. In addition, smuggling and other illegal or quasi-legal transactions may be unrecorded or misrecorded.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: The balance of payments (BoP) is a double-entry accounting system that shows all flows of goods and services into and out of an economy; all transfers that are the counterpart of real resources or financial claims provided to or by the rest of the world without a quid pro quo, such as donations and grants; and all changes in residents' claims on and liabilities to nonresidents that arise from economic transactions. All transactions are recorded twice - once as a credit and once as a debit. In principle the net balance should be zero, but in practice the accounts often do not balance, requiring inclusion of a balancing item, net errors and omissions. The concepts and definitions underlying the data are based on the sixth edition of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Balance of Payments Manual (BPM6). Balance of payments data for 2005 onward will be presented in accord with the BPM6. The historical BPM5 data series will end with data for 2008, which can be accessed through the World Development Indicators archives. The complete balance of payments methodology can be accessed through the International Monetary Fund website (www.imf.org/external/np/sta/bop/bop.htm).

Aggregation method: Gap-filled total

Periodicity: Annual

General Comments: Note: Data are based on the sixth edition of the IMF's Balance of Payments Manual (BPM6) and are only available from 2005 onwards.