BRUSSELS, April 20 (Reuters) - A record number of dangerous goods were found in the European Union in 2008 and more than half of the rogue items, such as toys and electrical products, came from China, a European Commission report showed on Monday 20 April.

Under the EU executive's rapid alert system for non-food products -- known as RAPEX -- the number of goods which posed a serious health and safety risk to consumers across the 27-nation bloc rose by 16 percent last year.

"This rise from 1,605 notifications in 2007 to 1,866 last year shows that the capacity of the RAPEX system has substantially increased again in 2008," the Commission said in its annual report.

Products from China accounted for 59 percent of goods reported, up from 52 percent in 2007 and 49 percent in 2006.

Toys made up more than one third of the dangerous products recalled. Clothing, motor vehicles, electrical appliances and fashion items each added up to 10 percent of alerts.

One fifth of the dangerous products which could have caused injury to customers through choking, chemical burns, electric shock and fire came from within the EU, with Germany accounting for the highest European recall rate of 82 products. (Reporting by Sarah Luehrs; writing by Darren Ennis, editing by Timothy Heritage)