Syria
Syria is a beneficiary of the EU's Standard GSP. With a per capita income of $1,057 (2022), the World Bank classifies the country as a low-income economy. In 2025, total EU imports from Syria amounted to €150 million, the highest value in years. Imports eligible for GSP preferences stood at €78 million in 2025, of which only about €1 million actually made use of the preferences.
What is the GSP?
The Standard GSP targets developing countries that are classified by the World Bank as lower or lower-middle income countries and which do not have equal preferential access to the EU market through any other arrangement. Standard GSP beneficiary countries can benefit from duty suspension for non-sensitive products as well as duty reductions for sensitive products across approximately 66% of all EU tariff lines.
At a glance: EU preferential imports from Standard GSP beneficiary countries (2025, € million)
25.6M (2025)
Population
Presidential Republic
Government
-0.2% (2022)
GDP Growth
no data
Inflation
$ 23.7B (2022)
GDP
Facts about Syria's economy
Conflict-struck Economy
The conflict in Syria has had a severe impact on the life of the population and on the economy. Since its end, Syria’s economy has begun recovering, with growth forecast at 8-10% in 2026, but widespread poverty, damaged infrastructure, and weak institutions remain challenges.
Export Products
Syria's most important exports in 2024 were olive oil and fruit and nuts. Other exports are also mostly agricultural products including cumin seeds, tomatoes, and lentils.
Trade Partners
Syria's trade relations are diversified. The most important trading partners in 2025 were China, Lebanon and Egypt. China and Ukraine are the most important suppliers, and Iraq and Lebanon were the most important markets.
Economic Structure
Services and agriculture are the two most important sectors, each contributing more than 40% to the overall GDP (2023), employing about a quarter of the Syrian population. The processing of cotton as well as wool and nylon are important for the manufacturing sector supplemented by industrial engineering industries including cement, glass, batteries, and pharmaceuticals. Food processing is another important sector and includes the processing of salt which is extracted from the country's salt lakes, vegetable oils, canned fruits and vegetables, tobacco, and dairy products.
Usage of GSP Preferences
Although 52% of Syria's exports to the EU were eligible for GSP preferential tariffs in 2025, the preference utilisation rate, which represents the ratio of preferential imports to GSP eligible imports, stood at only 2%.
Trade with the EU
Total trade with the EU amounted to €193 million in 2025. The EU is Syria's tenth most important trading partner.
Syria and the EU
Imports from Syria by product section (2025, € million)
Imports from Syria over time (€ million)
SYRIA AND THE EU GSP
Economic Impact
52%
Share of Syria's exports to the EU that were eligible for reduced tariffs granted by the GSP in 2025.
2%
Syria hardly made use of GSP preferences in 2025.
49%
Share of zero-duty imports from Syria in 2025.
Preference utilisation and export diversification
EU imports from Syria (€ million)
Preference utilisation (%) vs. total eligible imports (in € million)
More than half of the EU imports from Syria are eligible for GSP preferences, and their value steadily increased since 2016, reaching €78 million in 2025. However, since 2020 the preference utilisation rate has been below 10% (2% in 2025).
The largest product sections under the GSP (€ million, 2025)
The civil war had a considerable impact on Syria’s exports to the EU, but since its end first signs of recovery can be seen. GSP-eligible imports increased by 51% from 2023 to 2025, and imports using the preferences by 185%. Preference utilisation has remained very limited however: Only some agricultural and food products used preferences in 2025, but even for these the utilisation rates were well below 5%.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
As a beneficiary of the Standard GSP, Syria is not required to ratify any conventions to be able to benefit from preferential access to the EU market. Nonetheless, Syria has ratified all 15 core international conventions on human and labour rights listed in the GSP Regulation. Additionally, Syria has ratified all of the eight listed conventions on environmental protection and three of the four conventions on good governance aspects. Syria has also signed, but not ratified, the fourth governance convention, the UN Convention against Corruption.
Core international conventions on human rights and labour standards
Ratified
- Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948)
- International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1969)
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976)
- International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (1976)
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1981)
- Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1987)
- Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990)
- Convention concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour, No 29 (1930)
- Convention concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, No 87 (1948)
- Convention concerning the Application of the Principles of the Right to Organise and to Bargain Collectively, No 98 (1949)
- Convention concerning Equal Remuneration of Men and Women Workers for Work of Equal Value, No 100 (1951)
- Convention concerning the Abolition of Forced Labour, No 105 (1957)
- Convention concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation, No 111 (1958)
- Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, No 138 (1973)
- Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, No 182 (1999)
Additional Conventions
- Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (1973)
- Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (1987)
- Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (1989)
- Convention on Biological Diversity (1992)
- The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992)
- Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (2000)
- Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (2001)
- Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1998)
- United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961)
- United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971)
- United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1988)
EU-Syria Bilateral Development Cooperation
DG NEAR
Access all info about EU-Syria relations on the European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) website.