The FINANCIAL — The globalisation of the world economy creates new needs for statistics. Therefore, Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, publishes a set of economic globalisation indicators.
These identify five aspects of economic globalisation: international trade, foreign direct investment (FDI), employment and value added of multinational enterprises as well as internationalisation technology. All in all, twelve indicators are included in this framework, of which four are shown in this News Release, according to Eurostat.
One of the seven flagship initiatives of the Europe 2020 strategy is to have an “industrial policy for the globalisation era”, which means to support the development of a strong and sustainable industrial base to compete globally. Reliable indicators of economic globalisation and its impact on the EU economy are essential for the effective implementation of this policy.
Increase of EU international trade in goods and services in percentage of GDP
An indicator of economic globalisation is the share of trade in goods and services in percentage of GDP. In the EU, this share increased between 2004 and 2013, except for a fall in connection with the financial crisis in 2009. In 2013, EU imports were equivalent to 42% of GDP and exports to 45%, according to Eurostat.
Increase for the EU as a net investor in the rest of the world
Another globalisation indicator is the stock of FDI in percentage of GDP. Both outward and inward investment have grown steadily between 2004 and 2012 in the EU: outward however more strongly than inward. In 2012, EU outward FDI stocks in percentage of GDP were equivalent to 40% of GDP and inward stocks to 30%.
As EU outward investment is larger than inward investment, the EU is a net investor in the rest of the world. The difference between EU outward and inward investment has grown from 4% of GDP in 2004 to 10% in 2012, according to Eurostat.
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