The EU is the world's largest trader of goods and services, ahead of China and the United States.
78% confidence
EconomyEuropean Union
Omissions
The #1 position refers to the COMBINED total of goods and services trade and to extra-EU trade only (trade between EU member states is excluded from the comparison with China and the US).
The components differ individually: in 2025 the United States remained the largest services trader (US services exports of US$ 1,209 billion, 12.7% of the world total), and China was the largest supplier/exporter of goods (e.g., China supplied 22.3% of goods imported into the EU in 2025 vs 14.1% for the US).
The 2025 figures are preliminary, published by the WTO in its Global Trade Outlook and Statistics of March 2026; no source was found showing that the EU had been overtaken in the combined goods-and-services ranking in 2025 or early 2026 before the session date.
No source was cited by the speaker for the claim.
Sources
PrimaryWTO - World Trade Statistics 2025In 2025, world trade in goods and commercial services, on a balance of payments basis, increased by 8% to US$ 34.89 trillion, up from 4% growth in the previous year.