STAT/06/30
7 March 2006
European business: A portrait of EU industrial and service activities New comprehensive statistical panorama of European business
The new edition of European business - facts and figures1, published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, gives a comprehensive picture of the structure, development and characteristics of European business and its different activities: from energy and the extractive industries to communications, information services and media. It presents the latest available statistics from a wide selection of statistical sources describing for each activity production and employment, country specialisation and regional distribution, productivity and profitability, the importance of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), work-force characteristics, external trade etc.
The following tables explore in more detail the non-financial business economy2 within the EU25. Industry generated 37% of value added in the non-financial business economy in the EU25 in 2002, and Construction 8%. The largest industrial branches in terms of value added in 2002 were Metals and metal products (4.1% of value added of the non-financial business economy), Food, beverages and tobacco (3.9%), Electrical machinery and optical equipment (3.7%), Chemicals (3.6%), Machinery and equipment, Transport equipment, and Electricity, gas and water supply (each 3.5%).
The Non-financial market services sector3 generated 55% of value added in the non-financial business economy in the EU25 in 2002, with Real estate, renting, professional and technical services4 accounting for 21%, Motor trades, wholesale and retail trade for 19%, Transport and communications for 12%, and Hotels and restaurants, 3%. Of the 69 million people employed in the market services sector, 28 million were employed in motor trades, wholesale and retail trade, 22 million in real estate, renting, professional and technical services, 11 million in transport and communications and 8 million in hotels and restaurants.
Average personnel costs5 were lowest in 2002 in the Clothing and the Hotel and restaurant industries (both 15 thousand euro per employee), and highest in Refineries (60 thousand euro) and Chemicals (46 thousand euro). The energy related sectors, Refineries (165 thousand euro), Electricity, gas and water (109 thousand euro) and Mining and quarrying (102 thousand euro), were the sectors with the highest apparent labour productivity6, compared to an average for the non-financial business economy of 41 thousand euro.
Worth noting: At the same time a new section on the Eurostat website dedicated to European Business has been made public. This provides access to a selection of publications, data and background information describing European business. Individual chapters of European Business - facts and figures in PDF format, as well as Excel-files with tables and graphs and detailed background data, are available as free downloads
Non-financial business economy in the EU25, 2002
Value added Number of persons employed Average personnel costs Apparent labour productivity EUR mio % 1000 % EUR per employee EUR/person employed Industry 1 760 127 37.1 35 883 30.7 32 700 49 100 Mining and quarrying 66 214 1.4 653 0.6 35 200 101 500 Food, beverages and tobacco* 185 361 3.9 4 454 3.8 24 200 41 600 Textiles 35 795 0.8 1 244 1.1 21 800 28 800 Clothing 24 101 0.5 1 287 1.1 14 700 18 700 Leather and footwear 12 870 0.3 548 0.5 17 400 23 500 Wood 32 618 0.7 1 225 1.0 21 300 26 600 Paper 46 160 1.0 739 0.6 36 300 62 500 Publishing and printing 92 224 1.9 1 872 1.6 35 400 49 300 Refineries 29 069 0.6 176 0.2 59 500 164 900 Chemicals 170 555 3.6 1 929* 1.7 45 600* 84 100* Rubber and plastics 72 556 1.5 1 675 1.4 30 500 43 300 Other non-metallic mineral products* 69 294 1.5 1 577 1.4 27 800 43 900 Metals and metal products 192 707 4.1 4 786 4.1 30 900 40 300 Machinery and equipment 164 712 3.5 3 527 3.0 36 600 46 700 Electrical machinery and optical equip. 177 740 3.7 3 779 3.2 37 900 47 000 Transport equipment 164 290 3.5 3 002 2.6 42 600 54 700 Furniture and other manufacturing ind. 51 381 1.1 1 776 1.5 23 700 28 900 Recycling 4 909 0.1 111 0.1 26 600 44 300 Electricity, gas and water supply 164 931 3.5 1 512 1.3 40 500 109 100 Construction 384 369 8.1 12 165 10.4 25 800 31 600 Non-financial market services 2 596 549 54.8 68 728 58.9 25 900 37 800 Motor trades 135 728 2.9 3 690 3.2 23 600 36 800 Wholesale trade 410 665 8.7 8 692 7.4 30 200 47 200 Retail trade 351 624 7.4 15 488 13.3 17 100 22 700 Hotels and Restaurants 160 707 3.4 8 004 6.9 14 900 20 100 Transport and communications 552 153 11.6 11 334 9.7 32 100 48 700 Real estate, renting, professional & technical services 985 672 20.8 21 521 18.4 30 900 45 800 Non-financial business economy 4 741 045 100.0 116 777 100.0 28 200 40 600 * 2001
Manufacture of chemicals, rubber and plastic products
The EU25 chemicals7, rubber and plastics sector accounted for 14% of industrial value added in 2002 and 10% of the industrial workforce (in 2001). EU25 value added was 244 billion euro in 2002, with chemicals accounting for just over 70%, plastics and rubber the remaining 30%. Germany was the leading producer of chemicals, rubber and plastics, with a 25% share of EU25 value added in 2002, followed by the United Kingdom and France (15% each).
The sector employed 3.6 million persons in the EU25, with chemicals accounting for 54%, and rubber and plastics 46%. Average personnel costs varied by a factor of around fifteen among the Member States, with an average of 46 thousand euro for chemicals and 31 thousand euro for rubber and plastic products.
Chemicals & chemical products, 2002Rubber & plastic products, 2002
Value added (EUR mio) Number of persons employed (thousands) Average personnel costs (EUR per employee) Value added (EUR mio) Number of persons employed (thousands) Average personnel costs (EUR per employee) EU25 170 555 1 929* 45 600* 72 556 1 675 30 500 Belgium* 9 051 68 62 500 1 936 27 44 300 Czech Republic 994 45 9 800 1 021 66 8 100 Denmark 2 965 29 53 300 1 371 23 38 400 Germany 40 639 485 56 100 19 784 385 38 300 Estonia 44 3 6 900 38 3 6 700 Greece : : : : : : Spain 9 826 136 39 000 5 359 124 27 600 France 24 427 296 52 700 11 115 245 34 400 Ireland 16 247 25 44 300 430 9 28 200 Italy 15 924 208 45 400 9 731 207 29 900 Cyprus 60 2 : 32 1 : Latvia 61* 4 4 800 30* 3 2800* Lithuania 56 6 6 800 64 7 3 800 Luxembourg 112 1 45 400 378 4 51 400 Hungary 1 191 35 14 300 609 42 8 500 Malta 20 1 15 000 57 2 14 500 Netherlands 8 103 72 55 200 2 032 35 38 100 Austria 2 321 26 50 700 1 669 29 37 900 Poland : : : 1 767 120 14 000 Portugal 992 22 25 600 674 26 15 000 Slovenia 510 14 24 000 266 14 13 800 Slovakia 220 18 6 800 210 16 6 500 Finland 1 592 19 44 600 1 006 18 35 000 Sweden 5 711 43 52 500 1 231 25 36 900 United Kingdom 25 635 253 52 600 11 609 234 32 400 Bulgaria 195 29 3 200 54 18 1 800 Romania 417 67 3 700 191 40 2 600 Norway 1 615 15 68 400 333 6 45 000 Switzerland* 8 226 63 : 1 862 24 : * 2001
Construction sector
The construction8 sector had a value added of 384 billion euro in the EU25 in 2002 and employed 12 million persons, equivalent to 8% of the non-financial business economy’s value added and 10% of its employment. The United Kingdom had the largest construction sector accounting for 21% of EU25 value added for the sector in 2002, followed by Germany (17%).
The Spanish construction sector, ranked fifth in the EU25 in terms of value-added, employed most people - 2.2 million, 18% of the Spanish workforce - ahead of Germany (1.8 mio), Italy (1.6 mio), France (1.5 mio) and the United Kingdom (1.3 mio).
At 77 thousand euro per employee, apparent labour productivity was highest in Ireland, followed by the United Kingdom (61 thousand euro) and the Netherlands (49 thousand euro). Among Member States, average personnel costs were highest in Ireland (44 thousand euro) and the Netherlands (42 thousand euro), and lowest in Latvia (3.1 thousand euro per employee) and Lithuania (4.0 thousand euro).
Construction sector, 2002
Value added at factor cost (EUR mio) Number of persons employed (thousands) App. labour productivity (EUR/pers. emp.) Average personnel costs (EUR/employee) EU25 384 369 12 165 31 600 25 800 Belgium 9 493* 232 37 500* 33 800* Czech Republic 2 475* 376 6 600* 6 800* Denmark 7 500 172 43 600 37 000 Germany 63 805 1 824 35 000 32 500 Estonia 300 34 8 800 5 700 Greece 3 471 91 38 300 16 400 Spain 36 760 2 189 16 800 14 000 France 54 028 1 471 36 700 33 300 Ireland 3 062 40 76 600 43 800 Italy 49 586 1 575 31 500 24 000 Cyprus 794 29 27 100 20 800 Latvia 428* 45 10 000* 3 100* Lithuania 421 72 5 800 4 000 Luxembourg 1 269 28 45 900 31 600 Hungary 1 908 241 7 900 6 000 Malta 148 13 11 400 9 200 Netherlands 23 141 475 48 700 41 600 Austria 11 062 250 44 200 33 800 Poland 6 503 687 9 500 12 500 Portugal 7 018 434 16 200 11 900 Slovenia 852 66 13 000 12 500 Slovakia 527 66 8 000 5 100 Finland 5 452 122 44 600 34 000 Sweden 10 252 237 43 300 38 200 United Kingdom 79 657 1 307 60 900 36 900 Bulgaria 406 118 3 400 2 400 Romania 1 186 354 3 300 2 300 Norway 7 115 132 53 700 54 900 Switzerland* 15 062 274 55 000 : * 2001
Professional and technical services
Professional and technical services4 in the EU25 generated 555 billion euro of value added in 2002 and employed almost 16 million people. The largest activity was legal, accounting and management services, which alone were responsible for 39% of the sector's value added, though employing only 26% of its personnel. Architectural and engineering activities and technical testing contributed 19% to value added and 15% to employement. Labour recruitment and provision of personnel provided more jobs (17%) than value added (12%). The same can also be said of industrial cleaning (7% of value added and 17% of jobs) and investigation and security services (4% of value added and 6% of jobs).
The United Kingdom, with 148 billion euro of value added, accounted for the largest share (27%) of the EU25’s professional and technical services in 2002, followed by Germany (21%) and France (15%). Average personnel costs varied depending on the activity: ranging from an EU average of 13 thousand euro for industrial cleaning to 41 thousand euro for legal, accounting and management services.
Professional and technical services in 2002
Value added (EUR bn) Number of persons employed (thousands) Apparent labour productivity (EUR/pers. empl.) Average personnel costs (EUR/employee) EU25 555.1 15 785 35 200 27 800 Belgium 14.2* 351 38 300* 33 600* Czech Republic 2.4* 333 8 000* 7 600* Denmark 8.5 209 40 700 34 200 Germany 113.8 2 948 38 600 27 000 Estonia 0.3 29 9 300 6 600 Greece : : : : Spain 34.2 1 512 22 600 18 200 France 85.6 2 032* 39 800* 35 500* Ireland 5.0 115 43 500 28 000 Italy 51.2 1 694 30 200 22 600 Cyprus 0.4 11 35 200 22 700 Latvia 0.2 26 9 100 3 900 Lithuania 0.2 31 7 400 4 900 Luxembourg 1.3 36 36 200 32 100 Hungary 2.2 317 6 800 7 000 Malta 0.2 9 24 400 11 500 Netherlands 32.9 1 039 31 700 28 100 Austria 10.4 243 42 700 30 900 Poland 5.2 635 8 200 13 300 Portugal 4.4 263 16 600 13 600 Slovenia 0.9 46 18 800 15 200 Slovakia 0.7 52 13 100 6 200 Finland 4.8 125 38 600 30 800 Sweden 13.7 382 35 900 40 200 United Kingdom 147.7 3 095 47 700 32 000 Bulgaria 0.2 92 2 100 1 900 Romania 0.7 156 4 600 2 700 Norway 8.1 155 52 400 44 700 * 2001
Eurostat, European business - Facts and figures, 2005 edition. The publication in PDF format can be downloaded free of charge and paper copies including an accompanying CD-ROM can be ordered through the Eurostat portal at http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/. Individual chapters in PDF format and excel files of tables and graphs are available as free downloads from the dedicated European Business site, accessible under the theme 'Industry, trade and services' at the Eurostat portal. The publication covers the business economy, which excludes agricultural activities, public administration and other non-market services. Together the latter account for around one quarter of EU25 value added. The non-financial business economy also excludes the financial services sector, for which activity specific information is presented in the publication. NACE Rev. 1.1 is the common statistical classification of economic activity within the European Community. NACE Rev. 1.1 is available at http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ramon/. Non-financial market services refers to Motor trades, Wholesale and retail trade, Hotels and restaurants, Transport and communications, Real estate, Renting, Professional and technical services. The term professional and technical services is used to refer to the aggregate of the following activities: legal, accounting, book-keeping and auditing activities; tax consultancy; market research and public opinion polling; business and management consultancy; holdings; architectural and engineering activities and related technical consultancy, technical testing and analysis; advertising, labour recruitment and provision of personnel, investigation and security activities, industrial cleaning, miscellaneous business activities not included elsewhere.
Personnel costs are defined as total remuneration, in cash or kind, paid to employees, taxes and employees social security contributions, and employers compulsory and voluntary social contributions. Average personnel costs are personnel costs divided by the number of employees, including part-time and seasonal workers. Apparent labour productivity is defined as value added divided by the number of persons employed; the result is expressed as thousand euro per person employed. Chemicals and chemical products include: basic chemicals; pesticides and other agro-chemical products; paints, varnishes and similar coatings, printing ink and mastics; pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemicals and botanical products; soap and detergents, cleaning and polishing preparations, perfumes and toilet preparations; other chemical products; man-made fibres. Construction is defined according to chronological stages of the construction process, starting with demolition and site preparation, passing through building of complete constructions or parts thereof and civil engineering, (referred to as general construction in the text), and ending with installation and completion work. One final construction activity covers the renting with an operator of construction equipment. Some technical activities related to the construction sector, such as architectural services or landscaping, are classified as business services. Issued by: Eurostat Press Office Philippe BAUTIER BECH Building L-2920 LUXEMBOURG Tel: +352-4301-33 444 Fax: +352-4301-35 349 eurostat-pressoffice@ec.europa.eu For further information: Ulf JOHANSSON Tel: +352-4301-32 137 Fax: +352-4301-32 600 ulf.johansson@ec.europa.eu Eurostat News Releases on the Internet: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ 
