Total exports of services in the first half of 2021 91.6 billion euros. That’s 6 percent less than in the same period last year. In the first six months of 2021, about 12.2 percent of all services exports went to Germany. This means that Germany’s share of total Dutch services exports is slightly below the previous year’s level. The UK’s share grew from 11.7 percent to 12.6 percent. Exports of services to the United Kingdom, United States and Belgium were slightly higher in the first half of 2021 than in the same period of the previous year. Growth was even stronger for Ireland and Switzerland. The Netherlands mainly exported fewer services to Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
| United Kingdom | 11.6 | 11.4 |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | 11.1 | 11.9 |
| USA | 10.7 | 10.5 |
| Ireland | 6.4 | 5.9 |
| Switzerland | 5.5 | 5.1 |
| Belgium | 5.2 | 5.2 |
| France | 4.9 | 5.6 |
| Italy | 2.4 | 2.6 |
| Sweden | 2.3 | 2.3 |
| Spain | 1.8 | 2.0 |
| * provisional figures | ||
German services exports only fell in the first quarter
Exports of services to Germany were only affected in the first quarter of 2021: in that period, the Netherlands exported 16 percent less services than in the first three months of 2020. The crown crisis had just erupted in mid-March 2020 and international transport flows were hit hard thereafter. The first quarter of 2021 fell completely into the crown crisis. In the second quarter, exports to Germany recovered and were almost 5 percent higher than a year earlier.
Lower German service exports mainly due to lower travel traffic
In the first six months of 2021, German tourists and business travelers spent more than € 917 million less on services and goods during their stay or visit to the Netherlands than in the same period last year. This had to do with travel restrictions and other crown measures in that period, as a result of which the Netherlands received significantly fewer travelers. With a 35 percent share, Germany was also the most important country for exporting travel traffic in the first half of 2021. Travel is the fifth most important type of service for Dutch exports to Germany. Exports of management consulting services and intellectual property were also lower. In the first half of the year, the Netherlands exported more transport services (+7 percent), telecommunications, computer and information services (+14 percent) and financial services (+30 percent) to our eastern neighbors than a year before.
| Travel traffic | -917.0 |
|---|---|
| Use intellectual property | -328.1 |
| Professional and management consulting services | -57.4 |
| Other services | 15.2 |
| Financial services | 72.7 |
| Telecommunications, computing and information services | 180.1 |
| Transport services | 225.6 |
| * provisional figures | |
Due to circumstances, the update of the associated StatLine table has been delayed. The figures for the first half of the year are available in this temporary table .
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