Given that trade between the individual euro area Member States is no longer recorded as international trade, at least from the point of view of the euro area, its openness vis-à-vis the rest of the world appears to be limited.
Whereas the average ratio of goods exports to GDP for the individual euro area countries was around 35%, the share of euro area goods exports to GDP (adjusted for intra-euro area trade) was only about 12.9% in 1999. Nevertheless, the euro are is still more open than the world's other two major economies.