In value terms, Germany was the EU's leading exporter of high-tech products to the rest of the world in 2014, followed by France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Eight countries — Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary , Ireland and the Netherlands — recorded high-tech products trade surpluses. Overall, however, the EU recorded a high-tech Extra-EU trade deficit in 2014, with imports around EUR 7 billion higher than exports, Eurostat data show.

In five countries, growth in high-tech manufacturing was observed: Austria (2.2%), the Czech Republic (3.1 %), Malta (3.8 %), Romania (4.7%) and Turkey (6.7 %, in 2009-2014). 

There were more women in high-tech manufacturing than in manufacturing in general in the EU: Five countries reported that over 50 % of all those employed in high-tech manufacturing were women (Estonia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Poland and the Czech Republic). In the high-tech knowledge-intensive services, the proportion of women (30.5 %) was lower than in the total services sector. The lowest proportions were recorded in the Netherlands (23.0 %), Turkey (23.5 %) and the Czech Republic (24.2 %), the highest in Cyprus (44.4 %), Bulgaria (41.1 %) and Croatia (39.5 %). 

At regional level, high shares of employment in high-tech sectors are often observed in capital regions or in regions close to capitals. The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire region of the United Kingdom, situated in close proximity to London, stand out with 11 % of its labour force in high-tech sectors. The following regions are rated similarly: Comunidad de Madrid (ES) with 8.2 %, Hovedstaden (DK) with 9.5 % and Praha (CZ) with 9.5 %. Also, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom show the biggest regional variation (ratio of highest to lowest proportion). Read more (in English).