EU Imports €11.4 Billion in Green Energy Products as Solar Panel Trade Declines

The European Union imported €11.4 billion worth of green energy products in 2025, while exports reached €4.6 billion, according to Eurostat data published in October 2026. The figures cover solar panels, liquid biofuels and wind turbines, revealing contrasting trends across the three categories, with lower import values for solar panels and biofuels offset by a sharp increase in wind turbine imports.

Solar panels remained the largest category by import value, accounting for €8 billion of the EU’s green energy imports. However, this represented a 27.7% decline compared with 2024. The volume of imported panels fell by only 4%, suggesting that lower prices, rather than a comparable reduction in the quantity purchased, were the principal factor behind the decrease in trade value.

China continued to dominate the EU’s solar panel supply, accounting for 98.6% of imports in 2025. This concentration highlights the bloc’s continued reliance on Chinese manufacturers for a key component of the energy transition.

The trend was different for liquid biofuels. EU imports were valued at €2.7 billion, down 7.9% year on year, while import volumes declined by 11.6%. Malaysia was the leading supplier, representing 21.9% of imports, followed by the United States at 16.1%, Argentina at 12.4% and the United Kingdom at 12.3%.

China’s position in the EU biofuel market changed substantially during the year. Its share of imports fell from 24.2% in 2024 to just 1.3% in 2025. At the same time, Malaysia’s share increased from 15.3% to 21.9%, while the US share rose from 8.4% to 16.1%. These changes reshaped the main sources of biofuel supplies entering the European market.

Wind turbines recorded the strongest growth in imports. Their value increased by 40.6% to €700 million, while the volume imported rose by 69%. China accounted for 59.6% of EU wind turbine imports, overtaking India, whose share stood at 22.2%. China’s share had been 41.3% in 2024, indicating a substantial shift in the composition of suppliers over the period.

Although imports of wind turbines remained much smaller in value than imports of solar panels or biofuels, the increase in both volume and value points to a stronger flow of equipment into the EU during 2025.

Export performance also varied considerably between product categories. EU exports of solar panels were valued at €500 million, a decrease of 23.6% compared with 2024. However, the volume exported increased by 2.6%, suggesting that lower prices also contributed to the decline in export value.

Biofuel exports experienced a more pronounced contraction. Their value fell by 45.9% to €1 billion, while export volumes dropped by 46.2%. Wind turbines, by contrast, were the EU’s most valuable export category among the three products, generating €3.1 billion in 2025. Their export value increased by 10.8%, with volumes rising by 9.5%.

The United Kingdom was the leading destination for EU exports of wind turbines, solar panels and liquid biofuels, according to Eurostat’s wider analysis of trade in these products. This underlines the importance of external markets for European producers, particularly in categories where the EU exports more than it imports.

Overall, the EU remained a net importer of the three green energy product categories in 2025, with imports exceeding exports by €6.8 billion. Solar panels accounted for the largest share of the import bill, while wind turbines generated the greatest export value.

The figures reflect different developments within the clean energy supply chain. Falling solar panel prices reduced the value of imports despite a relatively modest decline in volume, while wind turbine imports expanded sharply. Meanwhile, the decline in biofuel trade affected both imports and exports, with exports experiencing the steeper fall.

The data provide a snapshot of the EU’s international trade in selected green energy products rather than a complete measure of the bloc’s energy transition. They do not, by themselves, establish how much renewable energy capacity was installed during the year or how the products contributed to energy production. Nevertheless, the figures illustrate the scale of the EU’s trade in key technologies and fuels and the differing roles played by its major international suppliers and export markets.

By fLEXI tEAM