Contents
- Sporting goods imports statistics: EU extra-EU totals and recent trends
- Sporting goods imports statistics: product categories and import shares
- Sporting goods imports statistics: leading partner countries
- Sporting goods imports statistics: imports across EU member states
- Sporting goods imports statistics: changes between 2020 and 2025
- Sources
Sporting goods imports statistics: EU extra-EU totals and recent trends
Eurostat reported €10.8 billion in imports of sporting goods from non-EU countries in 2024. That extra-EU trade represented 0.4% of all EU imports. These figures describe the value of trade crossing the EU’s external boundary, rather than all sporting-goods purchases made within the Union. The distinction matters because trade between member states is counted separately as intra-EU trade. Eurostat, “How does sport contribute to trade in the EU?”
The longer series shows movement in both directions over the period. From 2022 to 2023, extra-EU imports fell by €3.6 billion, almost returning to their 2020 level. They then increased by €0.2 billion from 2023 to 2024, followed by a €0.9 billion increase from 2024 to 2025. These are changes in value, not percentage growth rates. The sequence describes a decline and subsequent increases, but the supplied figures do not identify causes for those changes. Eurostat, “International trade in sporting goods,” pp. 3
Across 2020–2025, the annual average growth rate (AAGR) of EU extra-EU sporting-goods imports was 3.1%. AAGR summarizes the average yearly growth rate over that span; it is distinct from the total percentage change across the endpoints. Eurostat also reports the endpoint change directly: imports were up 16.3%, equivalent to €1.7 billion, between 2020 and 2025. Eurostat, “International trade in sporting goods,” pp. 1, 3
Sporting goods imports statistics: product categories and import shares
In the 2025 extra-EU import mix, sports footwear was the largest category, accounting for 29.4% of sporting-goods imports. Gymnastic, athletic and swimming equipment followed at 27.6%. These shares refer to the value of extra-EU sporting-goods imports, and identify two prominent categories without describing every product group in the classification. Eurostat, “International trade in sporting goods,” p. 8
| 2025 EU extra-EU import category | Share of sporting-goods import value |
|---|---|
| Sports footwear | 29.4% |
| Gymnastic, athletic and swimming equipment | 27.6% |
Eurostat, “International trade in sporting goods,” p. 8
Country rankings use a broader measure: they combine intra-EU and extra-EU imports. Sports footwear was the leading category by import value in 17 EU countries in 2025. In Belgium, it represented 54.7% of sporting-goods imports. Gymnastic, athletic and swimming equipment led in Sweden, where it made up 33.0%, and also held substantial shares in Cyprus (30.5%), Portugal (30.2%), Hungary (28.3%), Lithuania (24.1%) and Estonia (22.7%). Each percentage is that category’s share of the country’s total sporting-goods import value. Eurostat, “International trade in sporting goods,” p. 8
Boats and water sport equipment led the combined imports in 2 other countries. In Malta, the category accounted for 86.9% of sporting-goods imports; in Croatia, it represented 32.0%. These country-level shares indicate which category had the largest value contribution in each market. They are not directly interchangeable with the EU extra-EU category shares above, because the country figures include imports from other EU members as well as from outside the EU. Eurostat, “International trade in sporting goods,” p. 8
Sporting goods imports statistics: leading partner countries
China was the largest extra-EU partner by share in 2025, accounting for 22.0% of the total value of EU sporting-goods imports. Vietnam ranked second, with 19.1%, and Indonesia had 4.8%. Those figures show the distribution among named partners; the supplied observations do not give a complete partner ranking. Eurostat, “International trade in sporting goods,” p. 10
| Partner | Share of EU extra-EU sporting-goods import value, 2025 |
|---|---|
| China | 22.0% |
| Vietnam | 19.1% |
| Indonesia | 4.8% |
Eurostat, “International trade in sporting goods,” p. 10
The 2020–2025 comparison shows different paths for these partners. China’s share rose by 3.2 percentage points, and Vietnam’s increased by 5.4 percentage points. Indonesia’s share decreased by 0.4 percentage points. The United Kingdom’s share went from 10.4% in 2020 to 4.6% in 2025. Percentage-point changes describe shifts in share, not changes in the euro value of imports. Eurostat, “International trade in sporting goods,” p. 10
Eurostat’s 2024 news release gives rounded partner values for that year: China supplied €4.5 billion of extra-EU sporting-goods imports, Vietnam €1.9 billion, and Indonesia €0.5 billion. The figures offer a value-based view for 2024, while the 2025 figures above are partner shares. They use different years and measures, so they should be read as separate snapshots rather than as a direct ranking comparison. Eurostat, “How does sport contribute to trade in the EU?”
Sporting goods imports statistics: imports across EU member states
For the EU as a whole in 2025, intra-EU imports represented 64.1% of total international trade in sporting goods. In 24 of the 27 member states, the value of intra-EU sporting-goods imports exceeded extra-EU imports. Among those 24 countries, intra-EU shares ranged from 60.4% in Sweden to 91.4% in Slovakia. The range applies to that subset; it does not describe all 27 countries. Eurostat, “International trade in sporting goods,” p. 6
National import values combine intra-EU and extra-EU trade. Germany recorded €6.2 billion in sporting-goods imports in 2025, which was €0.9 billion more than in 2020. France’s 2025 total was €4.2 billion, also €0.9 billion above its 2020 value. The Netherlands imported €4.1 billion in 2025, €0.8 billion more than in 2020. Eurostat, “International trade in sporting goods,” p. 3
| Member state | Sporting-goods imports, 2025 | Change from 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | €6.2 billion | +€0.9 billion |
| France | €4.2 billion | +€0.9 billion |
| Netherlands | €4.1 billion | +€0.8 billion |
Eurostat, “International trade in sporting goods,” p. 3
The totals and changes make these 3 member states useful reference points, while the intra-EU figures describe how trade is divided between partners inside and outside the Union. A member state’s total import value should not be mistaken for its extra-EU value alone. Nor does the EU-wide 64.1% share mean that every country had the same balance: the country counts and the 60.4%–91.4% range demonstrate variation among member states. Eurostat, “International trade in sporting goods,” pp. 3, 6
Sporting goods imports statistics: changes between 2020 and 2025
Across the full period, extra-EU sporting-goods imports increased by 16.3%, or €1.7 billion. Product groups contributed unevenly to that change. Gymnastic, athletic and swimming equipment recorded the largest absolute increase, rising by €486 million. Sports footwear imports grew by around €400 million. Those are value changes over 2020–2025; the source marks the footwear amount as approximate. Eurostat, “International trade in sporting goods,” pp. 1–2
Some groups had particularly large percentage increases. Golf equipment imports rose by 112.9%, around €238 million, and racket sports equipment imports rose by 100.9%, around €149 million. Parachute imports increased by 78.9%. The percentages describe changes in imports over 2020–2025; the approximate euro increases are stated separately where available. Eurostat, “International trade in sporting goods,” p. 2
Bicycles moved in the opposite direction: extra-EU imports declined by €103 million, or 11.0%, between 2020 and 2025. This decline sits alongside growth in the overall import total and in several other named product groups. The source figures support that contrast in direction, but do not establish why any category changed. Eurostat, “International trade in sporting goods,” p. 2
These statistics cover selected sporting-goods product groups identified through HS six-digit codes, and trade values are expressed in euros. They therefore do not represent every item that a retailer might classify as sporting goods, nor do they measure quantities, prices paid by consumers or domestic production. The reported import values and shares should be interpreted within that product scope and the specified trade boundary: extra-EU for the long-run product changes, and intra-EU plus extra-EU where member-state totals or country category shares are stated. Eurostat, “International trade in sporting goods”; Eurostat metadata, “International trade in sporting goods (sprt_trd)”