The EU single market remains the most important ex-port and import market for the SMEs
Among the 267,000 companies in Germany that exported goods in 2023, 258,000 were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Their exports generated a turnover of € 277 billion – around € 13 billion less than in 2022. Approximately 62.9 % of all SME goods exports were destined for the EU.
Micro enterprises (with fewer than 10 employees) and small and medium-sized enterprises exported significantly more goods to the EU single market than to non-EU countries, as indicated by their respective export ratios. In contrast, large companies exported to both regions in roughly equal measure.
The import participation of SMEs is increasing
98.4% of all goods importers (851,000) were SMEs. Their number has been increasing for years. However, the value of imports in 2023 (€ 334 billion) declined compared to the previous year (€ 380 billion, both nominally). As with exports, the EU single market also dominated imports in terms of import value, accounting for 69.8% of the total. This applies across all company size categories. Additionally, it is noteworthy that medium-sized and large companies import approximately the same amount of goods based on the import quota.
The researchers at IfM Bonn analyse data from Eurostat's "International trade in goods – trade by enterprise characteristics (TEC)" statistics as the basis for their SME statistics on international activities since 2025.
