This document provides an introduction to the Eurostat yearbook Europe in Figures - Eurostat Yearbook 2011. The yearbook aims to give an overview of European statistics across a wide range of topics. It is divided into 13 chapters covering areas such as the economy, population, health, education, and the environment. Each chapter contains statistical tables, figures and commentary. The document outlines the structure and content of the publication and provides information on how to access the underlying Eurostat data.

1. ISSN 1681-4789
Statistical books
Europe in figures
Eurostat yearbook 2011

3. Statistical books
Europe in figures
Eurostat yearbook 2011

4. Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers
to your questions about the European Union.
Freephone number (*):
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(*) Certain mobile telephone operators do not allow access to 00 800 numbers or
these calls may be billed.
More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://europa.eu).
Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication.
Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2011
ISBN 978-92-79-18414-7
ISSN 1681-4789
doi:10.2785/12017
Cat. No KS-CD-11-001-EN-C
Theme: General and regional statistics
Collection: Statistical books
© European Union, 2011
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5. Foreword
Our yearbook Europe in figures provides you with
a selection of the most important and interesting
statistics on Europe. Drawing from the huge amount
of data available at Eurostat, we aim to give an insight
into the European economy, society and environment
- for example, how the population of the European
Union is changing, how the economy is performing
in comparison with the USA or Japan, or how living
conditions vary between Member States. I hope that
you will find information of interest both for your
work and for your daily life.
In 2011, for the first time, you can find the content of
this book updated online in Statistics Explained. As
usual, the latest and most complete versions of all the
data can be downloaded from the Eurostat website.
Eurostat is the statistical office of the European Union. Working together with national
statistical authorities in the European Statistical System, we produce official statistics
which meet the highest possible standards of quality.
I wish you an enjoyable reading experience!
Walter Radermacher
Director-General, Eurostat – Chief Statistician of the European Union

6. Abstract
Europe in figures – Eurostat yearbook 2011 – presents a comprehensive selection of statistical data on
Europe. The yearbook may be viewed as an introduction to European statistics and provides guidance
to the vast range of data freely available from the Eurostat website at: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat.
Most data cover the period 1999-2009 for the European Union and some indicators are provided
for other countries, such as members of EFTA, candidate countries to the European Union, Japan
or the United States (subject to availability). With more than 420 statistical tables, figures and
maps, the yearbook treats the following areas: economy and finance; population; health; educa-
tion and training; the labour market; living conditions and social protection; industry, trade
and services; agriculture, forestry and fisheries; international trade; transport; the environment;
energy; and science and technology.
Editor-in-chief
Jukka Piirto
Eurostat, Unit D4 - Dissemination
Editors
Annika Johansson, Veronika Lang
Eurostat, Unit D4 - Dissemination
Contact details
Eurostat
Bâtiment Joseph Bech
5, rue Alphonse Weicker
2721 Luxembourg
E-mail: estat-user-support@ec.europa.eu
Production
This publication was produced by Informa sàrl
For more information please consult
Internet: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat
Data extracted
September to December 2010 (unless otherwise noted)

7. Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
The editor-in-chief and the editorial team of the Eurostat yearbook would like to thank
all those who were involved in its preparation. The yearbook could only be published
thanks to the support of the following colleagues:
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union
Directorate C: National and European accounts
C2 National accounts – production: Daniela Comini, Christine Gerstberger, Andreas
Krüger, Olaf Nowak
C3 Statistics for excessive deficit procedure I: Rasa Jurkonienė
C4 Statistics for excessive deficit procedure II: John Verrinder
C5 Government and sector accounts; financial indicators: Isabel Gancedo Vallina,
Boryana Milusheva, Peter Parlasca, Irena Tvarijonavičiūtė, Laura Wahrig, Ismael
Ahamdanech Zarco
Directorate D: External cooperation, communication and key indicators
D4 Dissemination: Marc Debusschere, Isabelle Fiasse, Diana Ivan, Ulrich Wieland
D5 Key indicators for European policies: Viktoria Bolla, Rosa Ruggeri Cannata,
Graham Lock, Iliyana Savova, Vincent Tronet
Directorate E: Sectoral and regional statistics
E1 Farms, agro-environment and rural development: Ludivine Baudouin, Catherine
Coyette, Carla Martins, Anne Miek Kremer
E2 Agriculture and fisheries: Marco Artico, Steffie Bos, Fausto Cardoso, Giovanni
Dore, Matthew Elliott, Henri-François Fank, Annabelle Jansen, Jean-Claude
Jeanty, Werner Kerschenbauer, Garry Mahon, Pol Marquer, Angelo Milella, Iulia
Pop, Henri Risch, Herta Schenk, Sorina Carmen Vâju, Franco Zampogna
E3 Environmental and forestry statistics: David Duquesnes, Manon Elsen, Jürgen
Förster, Christian Freudenberger, Christian Heidorn, Jean Klein, Csaba Mózes,
Hartmut Schrör, Marilise Wolf-Crowther
E5 Energy: Antigone Gikas, John Görten
E6 Transport: Luciano De Angelis, Jonas Noreland
E7 Environmental accounts and climate change: Velina Pendolovska, Cristina Popescu,
Stela Stamatova
Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011 3

8. Acknowledgements
Directorate F: Social and information society statistics
F1 Population: Monica Marcu, Fabio Sartori
F2 Labour market: Verónica Álvarez González, Luis Biedma, Simone Casali,
Beate Czech, Arturo de la Fuente Nuño, Sabine Gagel, Daniele Giovannola,
Hannah Kiiver, Ingo Kuhnert, Hubertus Vreeswijk
F3 Living conditions and social protection: Petrica Badea, Paulina Hojny,
Anna Rybkowska
F4 Education, science and culture: Ilcho Bechev, Marta Beck-Domżalska, Sadiq Kwesi
Boateng, Silvia Crintea, Bernard Felix, Dominique Groenez, Ángeles Hermosa-
López, Sylvain Jouhette, Lene Mejer, Sergiu Pârvan, Reni Petkova, Fernando Reis,
Veijo Ritola, Paolo Turchetti
F5 Health and food safety; crime: Hartmut Buchow, Marta Carvalhido da Silva,
Elodie Cayotte, Albane Gourdol, Dorota Kawiorska, Bart De Norre, Jean-Marc
Pascal Schaefer, Cynthia Tavares, Geoffrey Thomas
F6 Information society; tourism: Christophe Demunter, Chryssanthi Dimitrakopoulou,
Konstantinos Giannakouris, Anna Lööf, Peter Pospíšil, Petronela Reinecke, Heidi
Seybert, Maria Smihily, Albrecht Wirthmann
Directorate G: Business statistics
G2 Structural business statistics: Aleksandra Stawińska, Brian Williams
G3 Short-term statistics: Ulrich Eidmann
G4 International transactions: Luis Antonio de la Fuente, Gilberto Gambini, Franca
Faes-Cannito
G6 Price statistics; purchasing power parities: Jarko Pasanen, Tatiana Mrlianová, Paul
Konijn, Lars Svennebye
European Free Trade Association (EFTA)
Directorate-General for Translation of the European Commission
Publications Office of the European Union
4 Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011

9. Contents
Contents
Introduction 9
The Eurostat yearbook 9
Eurostat – the statistical office of the European Union 11
A practical guide to accessing European statistics 13
Linking statistics to European policies 18
1. Economy and finance 33
1.1 National accounts – GDP 34
1.2 Government finances 60
1.3 Exchange rates and interest rates 73
1.4 Consumer prices - inflation and comparative price levels 80
1.5 Balance of payments - current account 87
1.6 Foreign direct investment 95
2. Population 109
2.1 European population compared with world population 110
2.2 Population structure and ageing 115
2.3 Population and population change 123
2.4 Marriage and divorce 129
2.5 Fertility 135
2.6 Mortality and life expectancy 138
2.7 Migration and migrant population 144
3. Health 159
3.1 Healthy life years 160
3.2 Causes of death 164
3.3 Healthcare 173
3.4 Health and safety at work 187
4. Education and training 193
4.1 School enrolment and levels of education 195
4.2 Foreign language learning 204
4.3 Educational expenditure 208
4.4 Tertiary education 212
4.5 Lifelong learning 219
Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011 5

10. Contents
5. Labour market 227
5.1 Employment 228
5.2 Unemployment 242
5.3 Wages and labour costs 250
5.4 Job vacancies 260
5.5 Labour market policy interventions 263
6. Living conditions and social protection 269
6.1 Living conditions 270
6.2 Housing 280
6.3 Social protection 286
6.4 Crime 293
7. Industry, trade and services 301
7.1 Structural business statistics 302
7.2 Industrial production 325
7.3 Industry and construction 328
7.4 Services 336
7.5 Tourism 342
7.6 Information society 353
7.7 Telecommunications 365
8. Agriculture, forestry and fisheries 373
8.1 Agricultural output, price indices and income 374
8.2 Farm structure 381
8.3 Agricultural products 389
8.4 Agriculture and the environment 397
8.5 Forestry 402
8.6 Fisheries 407
9. International trade 415
9.1 International trade in goods 419
9.2 International trade in services 433
10. Transport 443
10.1 Transport accidents 445
10.2 Passenger transport 450
10.3 Freight transport 460
6 Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011

11. Contents
11. Environment 471
11.1 Air emissions accounts 473
11.2 Waste 480
11.3 Water 490
11.4 Material flow accounts 500
11.5 Chemicals management 507
11.6 Environmental protection expenditure 512
11.7 Environmental taxes 522
11.8 Biodiversity 530
12. Energy 535
12.1 Energy production and imports 537
12.2 Consumption of energy 546
12.3 Electricity production 554
12.4 Renewable energy 559
12.5 Energy prices 566
13. Science and technology 571
13.1 R & D expenditure 573
13.2 R & D personnel 581
13.3 Innovation 590
13.4 Patents 595
Annexes 601
NUTS (classification of territorial units for statistics) 601
NACE Rev. 1.1 (classification of economic activities in the European Community) 606
NACE Rev. 2 (classification of economic activities in the European Community) 606
SITC Rev. 4 (standard international trade classification) 607
ISCED (international standard classification of education) 607
Statistical symbols, abbreviations and acronyms 608
Glossary 614
Subject index 683
A selection of Eurostat publications 691
Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011 7

13. Introduction
Introduction
The Eurostat yearbook
Europe in figures – Eurostat yearbook list of statistical symbols, abbreviations
2011 provides users of official statistics and acronyms, and a subject index.
with an overview of the wealth of in-
formation that is available on Eurostat’s Files on the Eurostat website
website and within its online databases. It
The Eurostat website has a dedicated sec-
belongs to a set of general compendium
tion for the yearbook, which contains the
publications and, of these, it provides the
PDF version of the publication as well as
most extensive set of analyses and de-
all tables and graphs in MS Excel format.
tailed data. Europe in figures has been
The PDF version of the publication allows
conceived as a publication that provides
direct access through a set of hyper-links
a balanced set of indicators, with a broad
to all of the data tables and databases that
cross-section of information.
were used in the production of this publica-
tion, see: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/
Structure of the publication por t a l /page/por t a l /publ ic at ions/
Europe in figures is divided into an in- eurostat_yearbook_2011.
troduction, 13 main chapters and a set of
annexes. The main chapters contain data Data extraction, coverage and
and / or background information relat- presentation
ing to a very wide range of Eurostat data.
Each subchapter starts with a commen- The statistical data presented in the year-
tary on the main findings, some details book were extracted between September
regarding data sources, followed by back- and December 2010 and represent data
ground information and policy relevance. availability at that time. The accompany-
ing text was drafted between October and
The core of each subchapter is a set of ta-
December 2010.
bles and graphs that have been selected to
show the wide variety of data available for Due to its complex nature, data collec-
that particular topic; often these include tion, data processing and the subsequent
information on how important bench- release of information either online or in
mark indicators have developed during publications often means that a signifi-
recent years within the European Union cant amount of time may elapse between
(EU), the euro area (EA) and the Member the collection of data and its publication
States. Users will find a great deal more / release; this can vary from a few weeks
information when consulting the Eurostat in the case of short-term monthly indi-
website, which contains subject-specific cators to several years for complex, ad-
publications and online databases. The hoc surveys. There is a release calendar,
publication closes with a set of annexes which provides details of the schedule
that contain details of classifications, a for releasing euro-indicators (a collec-
Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011 9

14. Introduction
tion of the most important monthly only had 25 Member States since early
and quarterly indicators), available at: 2004 and has only had 27 Member States
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/ since the start of 2007, the time-series for
page/portal/release_calendars/news_ EU-27 refer to a sum or an average for all
releases. For other data sets, the metadata 27 countries for the whole of the period
provided on the Eurostat website gives presented, as if all 27 Member States had
information relating to the frequency of been part of the EU in earlier periods.
surveys and the time that may elapse be- In a similar vein, the data for the euro
fore data is published / released. area are consistently presented for the 16
members (as of December 2010), despite
The Eurostat website is constantly being
the later accessions of Greece, Slovenia,
updated, therefore it is likely that fresher
Cyprus and Malta, and Slovakia to the
data will have become available since the
euro area. At the time of writing (late
data was extracted for the production of
2010), Estonia had yet to join the euro
this publication. It is possible to access
area. As the data for this publication had
the latest version of each data set through
already been extracted and the accompa-
hyper-links that are provided as part of
nying text had already been drafted be-
the source under each table and graph in
fore the accession of Estonia to the euro
the PDF version of the publication.
area (1 January 2011), Estonia is excluded
This publication usually presents infor- from the euro area aggregates presented.
mation for the EU-27 (the 27 Member Unless otherwise stated, the data for the
States of the EU), the euro area (based euro area covers the 16 Member States
on 16 members), as well as the individual that shared the euro as a common cur-
Member States. The order of the Mem- rency as of December 2010 (Belgium,
ber States used in the yearbook generally Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland,
follows their order of protocol; in other Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, the
words, the alphabetical order of the coun- Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia,
tries’ names in their respective original Slovakia and Finland).
languages; in some figures the data are
When available, information is also pre-
ranked according to the values of a par-
sented for EFTA countries (including
ticular indicator.
Iceland that is also a candidate country)
The EU-27 and euro area (EA-16) aggre- and the candidate countries of Croatia,
gates are normally only provided when the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedo-
information for all of the countries is nia (1) and Turkey, as well as for Japan and
available, or if an estimate has been made the United States. Note Montenegro also
for missing information. Any partial to- became a candidate country in mid-De-
tals that are created are systematically cember 2010 (but has not been included
footnoted. Time-series for these geo- in this edition). In the event that data for
graphical aggregates are based on a con- any of these non-member countries does
sistent set of countries for the whole of not exist, then these have been excluded
the time period (unless otherwise indi- from tables and graphs; however, the full
cated). In other words, although the EU set of 27 Member States is maintained
(1) The name of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is shown in tables as FYR of Macedonia – this does not prejudge
in any way the definitive nomenclature for this country, which is to be agreed following the conclusion of negotiations
currently taking place on this subject at the United Nations.
10 Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011

15. Introduction
in tables, with footnotes being added in omitted when constructing the tables and
graphs for those Member States for which graphs. The following symbols are used,
information is missing. where necessary:
In the event that a reference year is not Italic value is a forecast, provisional or
available for a particular country, then an estimate and is therefore likely
efforts have been made to fill tables and to change
graphs with previous reference years : not available, confidential or un-
(these exceptions are footnoted); gener- reliable value
ally, an effort has been made to go back
two reference periods. – not applicable or zero by default
Eurostat online databases contain a large 0 less than half the final digit shown
amount of metadata that provides infor- and greater than real zero
mation on the status of particular val- Breaks in series are indicated in the
ues or data series. In order to improve footnotes provided under each table and
readability, the majority of this has been graph.
Eurostat – the statistical office of the European Union
Eurostat is the statistical office of the • Sectoral and regional statistics;
European Union, situated in Luxem- • Social and information society statis-
bourg. Its task is to provide the EU with tics;
statistics at a European level that enable • Business statistics.
comparisons between countries and re-
gions. Eurostat’s mission is ‘to provide In 2011, Eurostat had around 900 posts;
the European Union with a high-quality of these some 75 % were civil servants or
statistical information service’. temporary agents, while contract agents
and seconded national experts represented
As one of the Directorate-Generals of the 20 % of the staff, leaving 5 % with other
European Commission, Eurostat is head-
types of contract. Eurostat’s executed
ed by a Director-General. Under him are
budget was EUR 79 million in 2010 (exclu-
seven Directors responsible for different
ding costs of statutory staff and adminis-
areas of activity (Directorates as of De-
cember 2010): trative expenses) of which EUR 51 million
was used for the implementation of the
• Cooperation in the European statisti- Community statistical programme 2008-
cal system; resources; 2012, almost EUR 7 million was used for
• Quality, methodology and informa- the implementation of the modernisation
tion systems; of European enterprise and trade statis-
• National and European accounts; tics (MEETS), while EUR 21 million was
• External cooperation, communica- sub-delegated to Eurostat by other Direc-
tion and key indicators; torates-General.
Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011 11

16. Introduction
Since the creation of a European statisti- institutes of EEA-EFTA countries partici-
cal body in 1952, there has always been pate as observers, as may representatives
a realisation that the planning and im- of other European / international bodies,
plementation of European policies must for example, the ECB or the OECD.
be based on reliable and comparable sta-
To meet the challenges associated with
tistics. As a result, the European statisti-
the adoption of the Regulation, Eurostat
cal system (ESS) was built-up gradually aims:
to provide comparable statistics for the
EU. For this purpose, Eurostat does not • to provide other European institu-
work alone, as the ESS comprises Euro- tions and the governments of the
stat and the statistical offices, ministries, Member States with the information
agencies and central banks that collect needed to implement, monitor and
official statistics in the Member States. evaluate Community policies;
• to disseminate statistics to the Euro-
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 (2) of the pean public and enterprises and to all
European Parliament and of the Council economic and social agents involved
of 11 March 2009 on European statistics in decision-making;
established a new legal framework for • to implement a set of standards,
the development, production and dis- methods and organisational struc-
semination of European statistics. The tures which allow comparable, reli-
Regulation states that European statis- able and relevant statistics to be pro-
tics shall be developed in conformity duced throughout the Community,
with the statistical principles set out in in line with the principles of the Eu-
Article 285(2) of the Amsterdam Treaty, ropean statistics code of practice;
namely, that: ‘the production of Com- • to improve the functioning of Europe-
munity statistics shall conform to impar- an statistical system (ESS), to support
tiality, reliability, objectivity, scientific the Member States, and to assist in the
independence, cost-effectiveness and sta- development of statistical systems on
tistical confidentiality; it shall not entail international level.
excessive burdens on economic opera-
tors’. Eurostat and its partners in the ESS aim
to provide high-quality, impartial, reliable
Article 7 of the Regulation establishes and comparable statistical data. Indeed,
the European statistical system commit- access to reliable and high-quality statistics
tee (ESSC), which is at the heart of the and Eurostat’s obligation for trustworthi-
ESS, stating the Committee ‘shall pro- ness is enshrined in law. European statistics
vide professional guidance to the ESS for should be provided to all types of users on
developing, producing and disseminating the basis of equal opportunities, such that
European statistics’. The ESSC is chaired public administrations, researchers, trade
by the European Commission (Eurostat) unions, students, businesses and political
and composed of representatives from parties, among others, can access data
the national statistical institutes of the freely and easily. Access to the most recent
Member States. The national statistical statistics, as well as an expanding archive
(2) For more information: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:087:0164:0173:en:PDF.
12 Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011

17. Introduction
of information, is guaranteed through free plementation of the European statistics
access to Eurostat databases on its website. code of practice, the European statistical
governance advisory board (ESGAB) was
The data collected, harmonised and re-
set up; it is composed of seven independ-
ported upon by Eurostat have been agreed
ent members and met for the first time in
through a well-defined political process at
March 2009.
the European level in which the Member
States are deeply involved. Most surveys The European statistical advisory com-
and data collection exercises are based on mittee (ESAC) is composed of 24 mem-
European regulations or directives that bers representing users, respondents and
are legally binding. In order to be able to other stakeholders of European statistics
produce comparable statistics between (including the scientific community, so-
countries there needs to be a common cial partners and civil society), as well
‘statistical language’. This language has to as institutional users (the European
embrace concepts, methods and defini- Council and the European Parliament).
tions, as well as technical standards and This committee is entrusted with en-
infrastructures, often referred to by stat- suring that user requirements as well
isticians as harmonisation. Indeed, this is as the response burden on information
one of Eurostat’s key roles – leading and providers and producers are taken into
organising this standardisation process. account when developing statistical pro-
grammes.
In order to provide a guarantee of the
professional independence of the im-
A practical guide to accessing European statistics
The simplest way of accessing Euro- Registration is free of charge and allows
stat’s broad range of statistical infor- access to:
mation is through the Eurostat website
(http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat). Eurostat • tailor-made e-mail alerts providing
provides users with free access to its da- information on new publications or
tabases and all of its publications in PDF statistics as soon as they are online;
format via the Internet. The website is up- • enhanced functionalities of the da-
dated twice per day and gives access to the tabases (for example, user are able
latest and most comprehensive statistical to save data queries and make bulk
information available on the EU, its Mem- downloads).
ber States, EFTA countries, and candidate
The information on Eurostat’s website
countries.
under the heading of ‘Statistics’ is struc-
For full access to all of the services avail- tured according to a set of ‘themes’, which
able through Eurostat’s website, it is rec- may be accessed from the ‘Statistics’ tab
ommended that users should take a few that is consistently present near the top of
minutes to register from the homepage. each webpage; it provides links to:
Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011 13

18. Introduction
• EU policy indicators (see the end of Database by themes which contains
this introduction for more details); the full range of public data available
• general and regional statistics; on the Eurostat website. These data are
• economy and finance; presented in multi-dimensional tables
• population and social conditions; with selection features that allow tailor-
• industry, trade and services; made presentations and extractions. The
• agriculture and fisheries; interface for databases is called the Data
• external trade; Explorer (icon ) and this provides an
• transport; intuitive way to select and organise infor-
• environment and energy; mation. Data can be downloaded (icon )
• science and technology. from the Data Explorer in various for-
For each of these themes, the user is pre- mats (XLS, TXT, HTML, PC AXIS, SPSS
sented with a range of different sub-topics and TSV).
– for example, within the population and
Tables by themes which offers a selection
social conditions theme there are sub-top-
of the most important Eurostat data in a
ics for: population; health; education and
user-friendly way. All data are presented
training; the labour market; income, social
inclusion and living conditions; social pro- in simple two- or three-dimensional ta-
tection; household budget surveys; crime bles, generally with European aggregates
and criminal justice; and culture. These and data for the Member States on the
sub-topics are presented as hyper-links y-axis and time on the x-axis. Tables can
that take the user to a dedicated section be viewed using an interface called TGM
on the subject, with information generally – tables, graphs and maps (icon ) –
presented for data (main tables and data- where data can be visualised as graphs or
bases), publications, legislation, methodol- maps in addition to a standard, tabular
ogy and other background information. presentation. Data can be downloaded
(icon ) from TGM in various formats
Access to data (XLS, HTML, XML and TSV).
Tables on EU policy which also provide ac-
Data navigation tree
cess to pre-defined tables; these have par-
The majority of Eurostat’s statistics may ticular relevance for tracking the progress
be accessed from the data navigation being made by the EU as a whole and by
tree, at: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/ the Member States in relation to some of
portal/page/portal/statistics/search_ the most important policy areas. This sec-
database; alternatively, there is an icon at tion of the website covers indicators in re-
the right-hand end of the top menu bar lation to short-term indicators, structural
on each webpage that can be used to indicators, sustainable development indi-
switch to the data navigation tree. cators, globalisation indicators, employ-
The data navigation tree is based on the ment and social policy indicators, and EU
statistical themes presented above and is 2020 indicators. The tools for viewing and
collapsible and expandable. It has three extracting data are the same as those de-
main branches: scribed above for tables by themes.
14 Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011

19. Introduction
The data navigation tree also has two spe- links users are taken to product page(s) (4),
cial branches, where new items or recently which provide some background informa-
updated items (from all databases and ta- tion about each dataset / publication or set
bles) can be displayed according to a set of of metadata. For example, it is possible to
user preferences (criteria set by the user). move directly to the data from the data
product page by clicking the TGM or Data
Eurostat online data code(s) – Explorer icons presented under the ‘View
easy access to the freshest data table’ sub-heading.
Eurostat online data codes, such as Note that the data on the Eurostat’s web-
tps00001 and nama_gdp_c (3), allow the site is frequently updated.
reader to easily access the most recent data
Note also that the description above
on Eurostat’s website. In this yearbook
presents the situation as of December
these online data codes are given as part of
the source below each table and figure. 2010.
In the PDF version of this publication, Policy indicators
the reader is led directly to the fresh-
Aside from the main tables and databases,
est data when clicking on the hyper-
there exists a group of policy indicators
links for Eurostat online data codes.
that may be accessed from the ‘Statistics’
Readers of the paper version can ac-
cess the freshest data by typing a stand- tab, covering:
ardised hyper-link into a web browser, • Europe 2020 indicators;
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/product? • euro-indicators / Principal European
code=<data_code>&mode=view, where Economic Indicators (PEEIs);
<data_code> is to be replaced by the on- • sustainable development indicators;
line data code in question. The data is • employment, social policy and equal-
presented either in the TGM or the Data ity indicators;
Explorer interface. • globalisation indicators.
Online data codes can also be fed into the More details on each of these are provid-
‘Search’ function on Eurostat’s website, ed at the end of this introduction.
which is found in the upper-right corner of
the Eurostat homepage, at http://ec.europa. Statistics Explained
eu/eurostat.
Statistics Explained is part of the
Eurostat website – it provides easy access
to Eurostat’s statistical information. It
can be accessed via a link on the right-
The results from such a search present re- hand side of Eurostat’s homepage, or di-
lated dataset(s) and possibly publication(s) rectly at: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/
and metadata. By clicking on these hyper- statistics_explained.
(3) There are two types of online data codes:
• Tables (accessed using the TGM interface) have 8-character codes, which consist of 3 or 5 letters – the first of which is
‘t’ – followed by 5 or 3 digits, e.g. tps00001 and tsdph220.
• Databases (accessed using the Data Explorer interface) have codes that use an underscore ‘_’ within the syntax of the
code, e.g. nama_gdp_c and proj_10c2150p.
(4) The product page can also be accessed by using a hyper-link, for example, http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/product?code=
<data_code>, where <data_code> is to be replaced by the online data code in question.
Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011 15

20. Introduction
Statistics Explained is a wiki-based sys- Publications
tem, with an approach somewhat simi-
Eurostat produces a variety of publi-
lar to Wikipedia, that presents statisti-
cations, which all are available on the
cal topics in an easy to understand way.
Eurostat website in PDF format, free of
Together, the articles make up an ency-
clopaedia of European statistics, which charge. As with the ‘Statistics’ tab that
is completed by a statistical glossary is available at all times for accessing
that clarifies the terms used. In addi- data, there is a ‘Publications’ tab that is
tion, there are numerous links provided always accessible near the top of each
to the latest data and metadata, as well webpage for accessing material in PDF
as further information, making Statis- format.
tics Explained a portal for regular and There are a variety of different types of
occasional users alike. publication, ranging from news releases
In December 2010, Statistics Explained to more in-depth analyses in the form of
contained more than 1 000 articles and statistical books.
glossary items; its content and user- Eurostat’s publications programme con-
friendliness will be expanded regularly. sists of several collections:
Users may find articles using a set of
navigational features in the left-hand News releases provide recent informa-
menu; on the top-right menu bar of Sta- tion on the euro-indicators and on social,
tistics Explained it is possible to find op- economic, regional, agricultural or envi-
tions that make it possible, among oth- ronmental topics;
ers, to print, forward, cite, blog or share Statistical books are larger publications
content easily. with statistical analysis and data;
Statistics Explained is not only a tool for Pocketbooks are free-of-charge publica-
presenting statistical analyses, it can also tions aiming to give users a set of basic
be used to produce analyses. The Eurostat figures on a specific topic;
Yearbook was created using Statistics Ex-
plained as a common platform, such that Statistics in focus are short publications
its content could already be consulted in providing the most recent statistical data
Statistics Explained some time before it and complementary statistical analysis;
was published on paper. Methodologies & Working papers are
technical publications for statistical ex-
Country profiles interface perts working in a particular field;
The country profiles interface offers
Compact guides are leaflets offering basic
the possibility to visualise major statis-
figures and guidance on how to obtain more
tical indicators, of different countries
information from the Eurostat website.
and / or EU aggregates, in a user-friendly
map-based presentation. The interface Some Eurostat publications, including this
can be accessed via the following link: publication in English, are also printed;
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/guip/ these can be ordered from the website of the
introAction.do?. EU bookshop (http://bookshop.europa.eu).
16 Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011

21. Introduction
There it is also possible to download Eu- whenever possible, be addressed to the
rostat publications in PDF format, free- relevant language support centre. The
of-charge, as on the Eurostat website. mission of each centre is to provide free
The bookshop is managed by the Pub- of charge additional help and guidance to
lications Office of the European Union users who are having difficulty in finding
(http://publications.europa.eu). the statistical data they require. The list
and addresses of all support centres can
Reference metadata be reached via the User support-TAB on
Eurostat’s homepage.
The ESMS (Euro SDMX Metadata Struc-
ture) is a format based on the Statistical Specific requests can be addressed to
Data and Metadata eXchange (SDMX) this network, via the Eurostat website at:
Content Oriented Guidelines, which were http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/
adopted in January 2009 by seven inter- page/portal/help/user_support (requires
national organisations at a worldwide a user log-in).
level. The ESMS uses a subset of 21 cross
domain concepts (plus sub-concepts) and Eurostat’s service for journalists
is the new standard for reference metada-
ta in the ESS. It puts emphasis on quality- Statistics make news and they are es-
related information (containing concepts sential to many stories, features
such as accuracy, comparability, coher- and in-depth analyses. Printed me-
ence and timeliness). dia, as well as radio and TV, use Eu-
rostat data intensively. Eurostat’s
Reference metadata may be accessed ei- press office puts out user-friendly
ther from the heading ‘Metadata’ which news releases on a key selection of data
appears in the left-hand menu after select- covering the EU, the euro area, the
ing the ‘Statistics’ tab, or directly from the Member States and their partners. All
data navigation tree, where the following Eurostat news releases are available free
icon is used to signify its availability. of charge on the Eurostat website at 11
a.m. (C.E.T.) on the day they are released.
User support Just over 200 news releases were pub-
Eurostat and the other members of the lished in 2010, of which approximately
ESS have set up a system of user support three quarters were based on monthly or
centres – European Statistical Data Sup- quarterly euro-indicators; other releases
port (ESDS). These exist for nearly all of covered major international events and
the EU’s official languages, as well as for important Eurostat publications.
the EFTA and candidate countries; there
Eurostat’s press centre helps professional
are also plans to extend the user support
journalists find data on all kinds of topics.
service to cover those languages spoken
Journalists can contact media support for
in the Western Balkans.
further information on news releases and
In order to offer the best possible and other data (tel. (352) 4301-33408; e-mail:
personalised support, requests should, eurostat-mediasupport@ec.europa.eu).
Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011 17

22. Introduction
Linking statistics to European policies
Effective economic and political decision- • the Europe 2020 strategy (2010), the
making depends on the regular supply of successor to the Lisbon strategy.
reliable information. Statistics are one of
Economic and monetary union and the
the principle sources of such information,
setting-up of the European Central Bank
providing quantitative support to the de-
(ECB) required a broad range of infra-
velopment and implementation of poli-
annual short-term statistics to measure
cies. Statistics are also a powerful tool for
economic and monetary developments
communicating with the general public.
within the euro area and to assist in
Information needs for policy purposes re- the implementation of a common mon-
quire constant interaction between poli- etary policy. Effective monetary policy
cymakers and statisticians: the former depends on timely, reliable and com-
formulate their needs for data, and the prehensive economic statistics giving
latter attempt to adapt the statistical pro- an overview of the economic situation.
duction system so as to fulfil those needs. Such data are also needed for the assess-
In this fashion, new policies lead to im- ment of the business cycle.
provements in statistical production, both
in terms of enhancing the quality of exist- Europeans place a high value on their
ing indicators and of creating new ones. quality of life, including aspects such as
a clean environment, social protection,
Whereas politicians ask for highly ag- prosperity and equity. In recent years
gregated indicators which provide a syn- the European Council has focused
thetic and clear picture of the different on a number of key areas intended to
phenomena they are interested in, stat- shape the future social, economic and
isticians tend to deal with detailed data. environmental development of the EU.
Statisticians therefore have to filter and While Europe 2020 is the EU’s strate-
aggregate basic data in order to increase gy for smart, sustainable and inclusive
data readability and extract signals (in growth for the next decade, the sustain-
other words indicators). able development strategy is concerned
Over recent years, a number of policies with improving the quality of life and
have substantially influenced Eurostat’s well-being, both for current and future
priorities and activities: generations, through seeking a balance
between economic development, social
• economic and monetary union
cohesion and protection of the environ-
(EMU) and the creation of the euro
ment.
area (1999);
• the Lisbon strategy (2000, revised in Eurostat has responded to politicians
2005), including the open method of needs in these areas by developing five
coordination on social inclusion and sets of ‘EU policy indicators’ that may
social protection; be accessed through dedicated sections
• the EU’s sustainable development on the Eurostat website either directly
strategy, EU SDS (2001, renewed in from the homepage or from the ‘Statis-
2006); tics’ tab that appears near the top of every
18 Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011

23. Introduction
webpage. These five sets of data may be method of coordination on social
summarised as: inclusion and social protection, the
education and training programme,
• Europe 2020 indicators, which are
i2010 (the European information soci-
the headline indicators for the Eu-
ety for growth and employment) and
rope 2020 strategy. This strategy has
(gender) equality. Employment, so-
five EU headline targets which are
cial policy and equality indicators are
currently measured by eight head-
available on the Eurostat website at:
line indicators. Europe 2020 indi-
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/
cators are available on the Eurostat
p o r t a l / p a g e / p o r t a l /
website at: http://epp.eurostat.ec.
employ ment _ s o c i a l _ p ol ic y_
e u r o p a . e u /p o r t a l /p a g e /p o r t a l /
equality/introduction.
europe_2020_indicators/
• globalisation indicators comprise a
headline_indicators.
portfolio of 25 indicators, grouped
• euro-indicators, of which the
into five categories, that measure
Principal European Economic In-
different aspects of globalisation.
dicators (PEEIs) are the core, for
The main focus is to show the EU’s
monetary policy purposes; this is
relations with the rest of the world
a collection of monthly and quar-
and, wherever possible, the situa-
terly data, useful to evaluate the
tion within the EU to allow both the
economic situation within the euro
extent of internal EU integration
area and the EU. Euro-indicators
and the extent of its globalisation
are available on the Eurostat web-
to be grasped. Globalisation indi-
site at: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/
cators are available on the Eurostat
euroindicators.
website at: http://epp.eurostat.ec.
• sustainable development indica-
europa.eu/portal/page/
tors, for the EU’s sustainable de-
portal/globalisation/indicators.
velopment strategy extend across
a wide range of issues affecting the Europe 2020 indicators
quality of life, in particular look-
The Europe 2020 strategy is the EU’s new
ing at ways to reconcile economic
strategy to develop as a smarter, knowl-
development, social cohesion and
edge based, greener economy, delivering
the protection of the environment.
high levels of employment, productivity
Sustainable development indicators
and social cohesion; it is the successor to
are available on the Eurostat web-
the Lisbon strategy.
site at: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/
sustainabledevelopment. In March 2010 the European Council
• employment, social policy and agreed on the key areas of the strat-
equality indicators, for monitor- egy where action is needed: knowledge
ing and reporting in relation to em- and innovation, a more sustainable
ployment, social policy and equality. economy, high employment and social
These indicators are designed to ad- inclusion. The Council also agreed on
dress a range of different issues, such ambitious objectives – on employment,
as employment guidelines, the open innovation, education, social inclusion
Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011 19

24. Introduction
and climate / energy – to be reached by Poverty / social exclusion:
2020. To measure progress in meeting
• at least 20 million people should be
these objectives five headline targets
lifted from being in or at risk of pov-
have been agreed for the whole EU –
erty or social exclusion.
this limited set of targets is being trans-
lated into national targets for each EU The targets cover the main areas where
country, reflecting the specific situa- efforts are rapidly needed. The statistical
tion of each economy. data collected will help to measure the
Statistics are an integral part of the Eu- progress achieved in implementing the
rope 2020 strategy. The headline indica- strategy for the EU to become a smart,
tors measure the progress made by the EU sustainable and inclusive economy. As
and the Member States towards achieving part of the process, Member States draw
the headline targets of the strategy. up national reform programmes which
set out in detail the actions they will take
Employment: under the new strategy, with a particular
emphasis on efforts to meet their national
• 75 % of the population aged 20-64
targets. The European Council will assess
should be employed.
every year the overall progress achieved
R&D / innovation: both at an EU and at a national level in
• 3 % of the EU’s GDP (public and pri- implementing the strategy.
vate combined) should be invested in
R & D. Euro-indicators / PEEIs
Climate change / energy: Since October 2001 the euro-indicators /
PEEIs web pages have been a reference
• greenhouse gas emissions should be
point for all users of official statistics deal-
reduced by at least 20 % compared to
ing with short-term data. They were ini-
1990;
tially conceived as an independent web-
• the share of renewable energy sources
site, available in parallel to the Eurostat
in final energy consumption should
increase to 20 %; website; however, since October 2004, they
• there should be a 20 % increase in en- have been integrated with the remaining
ergy efficiency. content. It is possible to access euro-in-
dicators / PEEIs data from the ‘Statistics’
Education: tab visible in the menu near the top of the
• the share of early school leavers from screen on each webpage, or directly via
education and training should be un- the euro-indicators / PEEIs dedicated sec-
der 10 %; tion at: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/euro
• at least 40 % of 30-34–year-olds indicators. It is also possible to e-mail the
should have completed tertiary (or euro-indicators / PEEIs team at: ESTAT-
equivalent) education. EUROINDICATORS@ec.europa.eu.
20 Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011

25. Introduction
Euro-indicators / PEEIs aim to supply Data
business-cycle analysts, policymak-
The data presented in euro-indicators /
ers, media, researchers, students, and
PEEIs are built around a set of the most
other interested users with a compre-
relevant statistics, called Principal Euro-
hensive, well structured and high qual-
pean Economic Indicators (PEEIs), a list of
ity set of information which is useful
for their daily activities. The core of which can be found in the European Com-
euro-indicators / PEEIs comprises a set mission’s Communication (2002) 661 (5).
of statistical indicators giving an accu- They are presented in three main parts:
rate and as timely as possible overview • a selected Principal European Eco-
of the economic evolution of the euro nomic Indicators webpage (contain-
area, the EU, and the individual Mem- ing a set of 22 most relevant and time-
ber States. The euro-indicators / PEEIs ly short-term economic indicators for
dedicated section contains the follow- the euro area and the EU) directly
ing additional products and services accessible on the euro-indicators /
intended to assist in the understanding PEEIs homepage;
and analysis of data: • short-term indicators (included as
• selected Principal European Eco- the first branch of the ‘Tables on EU
nomic Indicators (PEEIs); policy’ section of the data navigation
• background; tree);
• news releases; • European and national short-term sta-
• status reports on information re- tistics database (included as the first
quirements in the European mon- branch of the ‘Database by themes’
etary union (EMU); section of the data navigation tree
• data; – under the heading of ‘General and
• publications; regional statistics’ – as European and
• information relating to seminars / national short term indicators (eu-
conferences. roind).
(5) For more information: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2002:0661:FIN:EN:PDF.
Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011 21

26. Introduction
Both the main tables for short-term in- Publications and working papers
dicators and the Euroind database are The main publication in this domain is
divided into the following eight domains: called ‘Eurostatistics’. It is a monthly
• balance of payments; release that presents a synthetic picture
• business and consumer surveys; of the economic situation together with
• consumer prices; detailed statistical analysis of the latest
• external trade; economic events for the euro area, the
• industry, commerce and services; EU, and the Member States. This month-
• labour market; ly review gives a synthetic picture of the
• monetary and financial indicators; recent macroeconomic situation. It is
• national accounts. based on PEEIs, which are complemented
22 Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011

27. Introduction
by some business cycle indicators. The sessment is presented in another publica-
latest issue of ‘Eurostatistics’ is accessible tion, entitled the ‘Monitoring report’, ac-
from the homepage of the euro-indica- cessible from the same location.
tors / PEEIs dedicated section. Previous
issues are also accessible – by selecting Sustainable development
the ‘publications’ entry in the left-hand indicators
menu of the euro-indicators / PEEIs
dedicated section and then clicking on The EU sustainable development strat-
the link to ‘Official publications’. Under egy (EU SDS), adopted by the European
the same heading of ‘publications’, users Council in Gothenburg in June 2001,
may also access a collection of ‘selected and renewed in June 2006, aims to con-
readings’ and ‘working papers’, contain- tinuously improve quality of life, both
ing both methodological and empirical for current and for future generations,
studies on statistical improvements and through reconciling economic develop-
analyses of European data. ment, social cohesion and protection of
the environment. A set of sustainable
Quality reports development indicators (SDIs) has been
developed to monitor progress in the im-
Since 2001, the Euroind database has been
plementation of the strategy. The indica-
subject to monthly quality monitoring.
tors are organised under ten themes (and
The results of this assessment are present-
sub-themes) that reflect different politi-
ed in a detailed online publication called
cal priorities (see first column of Table 2).
‘State of affairs’, also accessible from the
‘publications’ link in the left-hand menu In order to facilitate communication, the
of the euro-indicators / PEEIs dedicated set of indicators has been built as a three-
section. A synthesis of this monthly as- level pyramid.
Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011 23

28. Introduction
Table 1: Framework for sustainable development indicators
Indicator
Hierarchical framework Indicator types
level
Level 1 Lead objectives 11 headline indicators are at the top of the pyramid. They are intended to
monitor the ‘overall objectives’ of the strategy. They are well-known indicators
with a high communication value. They are robust and available for most EU
Member States for a period of at least five years.
Level 2 SDS priority objectives The second level of the pyramid consists of ca. 30 indicators related to the
operational objectives of the strategy. They are the lead indicators in their
respective subthemes. They are robust and available for most EU Member
States for a period of at least three years.
Level 3 Actions/explanatory The third level consists of ca. 80 indicators related to actions outlined in the
variables strategy or to other issues which are useful to analyse progress towards the
SDS objectives. Breakdowns of level-1 or -2 indicators are usually also found at
level 3.
Contextual Background Contextual indicators are part of the SDI set, but they either do not monitor
indicators directly any of the strategy’s objectives or they are not policy responsive.
Generally they are difficult to interpret in a normative way. However, they
provide valuable background information on issues having direct relevance
for sustainable development policies and are useful for the analysis.
This distinction between the three levels of within some years, with sufficient qual-
indicators reflects the structure of the re- ity (‘indicators under development’), and
newed strategy (overall lead objectives, op- those to be developed in the longer term
erational priority objectives, and actions / (‘indicators to be developed’).
explanatory variables) and also responds
to different kinds of user needs. The three The table below presents the situation as
levels of the pyramid are complemented regards the progress made with respect
with contextual indicators, which do not to the headline indicators, as presented
monitor directly the strategy’s objectives, within the 2009 edition of the Eurostat’s
but provide valuable background infor- monitoring report for the EU’s sustainable
mation for analysis. The SDI data set also development strategy (the weather sym-
describes indicators which are not yet fully bols reflect in most cases the progress to-
developed but which will, in the future, be wards the EU objectives or targets between
necessary to get a more complete picture of 2000 and 2007-2008). A new edition of this
progress, differentiating between indica- report should be available in the summer
tors that are expected to become available of 2011.
24 Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011

29. Introduction
Table 2: Headline sustainable development indicators and progress being made within the EU
EU-27 evaluation of
SDI theme Headline indicator change
(since 2000)
Socioeconomic development Growth of GDP per capita
Climate change and energy Greenhouse gas emissions (1)
Consumption of renewables
Sustainable transport Energy consumption of transport relative to GDP
Sustainable consumption and production Resource productivity
Natural resources Abundance of common birds (2)
Conservation of fish stocks (3)
Public health Healthy life years (4)
Social inclusion Risk of poverty (4)
Demographic changes Employment rate of older workers
Global partnership Official development assistance (5)
Good governance [No headline indicator]
:
Clearly favourable change / Moderately unfavourable change /
on target path far from target path
No or moderately favourable Clearly unfavourable change /
change / close to target path moving away from target path
(1) EU-15.
(2) Based on 19 Member States.
(3) In north east Atlantic.
(4) EU-25, from 2005.
(5) From 2005.
Source: Eurostat
Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011 25

30. Introduction
More information regarding sustainable Most of the indicators for monitoring and
development indicators may be found on analysis of the employment guidelines
the Eurostat website: http://ec.europa.eu/ are provided by Eurostat. However, for
eurostat/sustainabledevelopment, or by the time-being the coherent presentation
contacting: estat-sdi@ec.europa.eu. There of these indicators is under development.
is also a comprehensive publication For more information on the list of indi-
on the subject, ‘Sustainable develop- cators as well as the EES, please refer to
ment in the European Union: 2009 the Directorate-General for Employment,
monitoring report of the EU Sustain- Social Affairs and Inclusion website, at:
able Development Strategy’, available at: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/product? =101&langId=en.
code=KS-78-09-865&mode=view.
Open method of coordination on social
Employment, social policy and inclusion and social protection
equality indicators The Lisbon strategy also gave rise to the
This collection of indicators covers vari- open method of coordination (OMC)
ous aspects of employment and social that provides a framework for political
policy, as well as equality issues. The in- coordination (without legal constraints)
dicators are used to monitor and report in relation to social inclusion and social
upon progress being made as regards EU protection issues; this framework con-
policies relating to: tinues under the Europe 2020 strategy.
The OMC is a flexible and decentralised
• employment; method, which involves:
• social inclusion and social protec-
tion; • agreeing on common objectives
• education and training; which set out high-level, shared goals
• information society; to underpin the entire process;
• gender equality. • agreeing to a set of common indica-
tors which show how progress to-
European Employment Strategy wards these goals can be measured;
Since the launch of the European Em- • preparing national strategic reports, in
ployment Strategy (EES) in 1997 indica- which Member States set out how they
tors have been used for the assessment of will plan policies over an agreed period
Member States’ progress on implementing to meet the common objectives;
the employment guidelines that have been • evaluating these strategies jointly
developed under the EES, and that are pro- through the European Commission
posed by the European Commission and and the Member States.
approved by the European Council. The
guidelines were most recently revised in
2010 as part of the Europe 2020 strategy.
26 Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011

31. Introduction
The indicators can be accessed directly mented through the open method of
from the Eurostat website, through the coordination, using similar procedures
left-hand menu of the dedicated section to set objectives, exchange good prac-
covering employment, social policy and tices, and finally to measure progress
equality indicators, that may be found that is being made. On 25 May 2007 the
by clicking on the ‘Statistics’ tab near Council adopted conclusions on a coher-
the top of the screen on each webpage. ent framework of 16 core indicators for
The indicators are currently divided into monitoring progress towards the Lisbon
four strands, covering: objectives in education and training. In-
dicators and methodology are available
• overarching indicators;
on the Eurostat website as part of the
• indicators of the social inclusion
dedicated section covering employment,
strand;
social policy and equality indicators.
• indicators of the pension strand;
• indicators of the health and long term The programme was subsequently extend-
care strand. ed to cover the period through to 2020.
The long-term strategic objectives of EU
Common indicators allow a compari-
education and training policies are:
son of best practices to be made and
also measure progress being made to- • making lifelong learning and mobil-
wards common objectives. For more ity a reality;
information about the open method of • improving the quality and efficiency
coordination on social inclusion and of education and training;
social protection, please refer to the • promoting equity, social cohesion
Directorate-General for Employment, and active citizenship;
Social Affairs and Inclusion website, • enhancing creativity and innovation,
at: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp? including entrepreneurship, at all lev-
catId=753&langId=en. els of education and training.
Five new benchmark goals have already
Education and training
been defined for 2020, by which time:
To ensure their contribution to the Lis-
• an average of at least 15 % of adults
bon strategy, the ministers of education
should participate in lifelong learn-
from the various Member States adopted
ing;
in 2001 a report on the future objectives
• the share of low-achieving 15-years
of education and training systems agree-
olds in reading, mathematics and
ing for the first time on shared objectives
science should be less than 15 %;
to be achieved by 2010. A year later, a
• the share of 30-34 year olds with ter-
ten-year work programme was endorsed
tiary educational attainment should
(Education and training 2010).
be at least 40 %;
As with the indicators above relating • the share of early leavers from educa-
to social inclusion and social protec- tion and training should be less than
tion, these indicators are also imple- 10 %;
Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011 27

32. Introduction
• at least 95 % of children between four s o c ie t y/e eu rop e/i 2 010/do c s/
years of age and the age for start- benchmarking/benchmarking_digital_
ing compulsory primary education europe_2011-2015.pdf.
should participate in early childhood
Annual Community surveys on ICT us-
education.
age in households and by individuals are
For more information on these pro- a major source of information for moni-
grammes, please refer to Directorate- toring many of the aims of the i2010 strat-
General for Education and Culture web- egy and the Digital Agenda. The data pre-
site, at: http://ec.europa.eu/education/ sented on Eurostat’s website as part of the
lifelong-learning-policy/doc28_en.htm. dedicated section covering employment
and social policy indicators and referring
European Information Society for to i2010 indicators is divided into four
growth and employment main themes:
The penultimate heading within this sec- • developments of broadband;
tion covers the information society. The • advanced services;
eEurope action plan was launched under • inclusion;
the Lisbon strategy and included a set of • public services.
benchmarking indicators on Internet and For more information on the Digital
broadband take-up, as well as the use of Agenda, please refer to the Directorate-
online services. Within the context of the General for Information Society web-
renewed Lisbon agenda, a strategic frame- site, at: http://ec.europa.eu/information_
work for a European information society society/digital-agenda/index_en.htm.
for growth and employment (i2010) was
launched. This in turn has been succeed- Gender equality
ed in 2010 by the Digital Agenda for Eu-
rope, which was launched as part of the This final heading is a recent addition,
Europe 2020 Strategy. covering gender equality indicators
which show the situation of men and
The benchmarking framework for meas- women in the EU in a variety of different
uring progress in relation to the i2010 areas, with statistics presented for educa-
programme was set up and approved in tion, the labour market, earnings, social
April 2006; it contained a set of core indi- inclusion, childcare and health. These in-
cators and provides for flexible modules dicators help to assess the current state of
on specific issues to be defined each year. gender equality which is a fundamental
On 9 November 2009 a new benchmark- objective of the EU. The indicators avail-
ing initiative was endorsed, providing able on the dedicated section present just
the conceptual framework for the col- a selection of Eurostat’s data which may
lection of statistics and the development be disaggregated according to a gender
of a list of core indicators through to breakdown. The indicators selected have
2015. For more information, please re- their basis in a range of policy documents
fer to: http://ec.europa.eu/information_ covering this area, including the strategy
28 Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011

33. Introduction
for equality between women and men Complementary to this strategy, Europe’s
(2010-2015), the women’s charter 2010, or concerns to fulfil its international obliga-
the roadmap for equality between women tions to reduce poverty worldwide, and to
and men (2006-2010). promote global sustainable development,
are addressed in the EU’s sustainable
Equality between women and men is only
development strategy; aid, international
one of many different types of equality
trade and investment are important tools
which are covered by EU policy measures.
in this respect.
The Lisbon Treaty proposes taking action
to combat discrimination based on gen- While globalisation is a challenge for the
der, race or ethnic origin, religion or be- EU as well as for many countries around
lief, disability, age and sexual orientation. the world, it is also a challenge for offi-
In some of these areas, it is difficult to cial statistics. A number of international
gauge from statistics how far equality has and European initiatives concluded that
been achieved, but for others information current statistical measures need to be
is being developed. Eurostat therefore in- supplemented in order to better reflect
tends to expand its collection of data in the changing, globalising world. There
this area in order to cover these different is a strong policy and public demand for
forms of equality as and when suitable in- official statistics to measure globalisa-
dicators may be published. tion. Even though not all dimensions of
globalisation can be easily quantified, it
Globalisation indicators is important that these phenomena are
better understood with the help of proper
Globalisation means the increasing inter- statistical measures.
dependence and inter-linkages between
nations, the increasing mobility of peo- Eurostat’s globalisation indicator set
ple, the growing flow of products, ideas
and raw materials. The process of glo- The indicators can be accessed directly
balisation, as understood here, therefore from the Eurostat website, through the
involves social, cultural and environmen- left-hand menu of the dedicated section
tal elements and goes beyond the issue of covering globalisation indicators, that
economic integration which is often the may be found by clicking on the ‘Sta-
focus of globalisation indicators. tistics’ tab near the top of the screen on
each webpage. There is currently a port-
The EU has long been aware of the op- folio of 25 indicators, split between five
portunities created by globalisation, in different categories that measure various
addition to the growing intensity of the aspects of globalisation. The main focus
challenges it presents. It is in this context is to show the EU’s relations with the rest
that the Europe 2020 strategy, adopted by of the world and, wherever possible, the
the European Council in 2010, aims to situation within the EU to allow both the
exploit over the next decade the potential extent of internal EU integration and the
of globalisation to boost growth and em- extent of its globalisation to be grasped.
ployment in the EU.
Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011 29

34. Introduction
The selected indicators make use of data is currently working on a programme to
which already exist, but casting them in modernise business and trade statistics
the light of globalisation and allowing and is running a project to study how to
them to be seen from a new angle. The 25 best quantify non-economic elements of
indicators which have been selected are globalisation.
far from exhaustive, and they do not yet Globalisation indicators are available on
cover all aspects of globalisation. The glo- the Eurostat website at: http://epp.eurostat.
balisation indicator set may develop fur- e c . e u r o p a . e u /p o r t a l /p a g e /p o r t a l /
ther in the future. For example, Eurostat globalisation/indicators.
30 Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011

37. Economy and finance
Indicators from various areas, such as national accounts, government
finance, exchange rates and interest rates, consumer prices, and the
balance of payments support analysis of the economic situation used
in the design, implementation and monitoring of European Union
(EU) policies.
The EU is active in a wide range of policy areas, but economic poli-
cies have traditionally played a dominant role. Starting from a rather
narrow focus on introducing common policies for coal and steel,
atomic energy and agriculture as well as the creation of a customs
union over 50 years ago, European economic policies progressively
extended their scope to a multitude of domains.
Since 1993, the European single market has enhanced the possibili-
ties for people, goods, services and money to move around the EU as
freely as within a single country. The start of economic and monetary
union (EMU) in 1999 has given economic and market integration
further stimulus. The euro has become a symbol for Europe, and the
number of countries that have adopted the single currency has in-
creased from an original 11 to 16 countries by 2010.
Fostering economic and social progress, with constant improve-
ments in living and working conditions, has also been a key ob-
jective of European policies. The strongest global financial and
economic crisis since the 1930s reversed much of the economic
progress made since the 2000 Lisbon strategy was adopted. In the
aftermath of this crisis, in March 2010, the European Commission
launched the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and in-
clusive growth. Its declared objective is to overcome the effects of
the crisis and prepare the EU’s economy for the next decade; the
integrated economic and employment guidelines have been revised
within the context of this new strategy. Among the ten guidelines
one aims to address macro-economic imbalances, and the other
Europe in figures — Eurostat yearbook 2011 33