2009 Eurostat European Business Facts And Figures

ISSN 1830-8147

Statistical books

European Business
Facts and gures

2009 edition

Statistical books

European Business
Facts and figures

2009 edition

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Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2009

ISBN 978-92-79-12407-5
ISSN 1830-8147
DOI 10.2785/23246
Cat. No. KS-BW-09-001-EN-N

Theme: Industry, trade and services
Collection: Statistical books

© European Communities, 2009
© Cover photo: Phovoir

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Acknowledgements
European business – Facts and figures, 2009 edition
This publication has been produced by Eurostat unit G2 responsible for structural business statistics. The opinions
expressed are those of the individual authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the position of the European
Commission.

Editor and project co-ordinator
Ms Aleksandra Stawińska
Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities
Unit G2 Structural business statistics
Bâtiment Joseph Bech
Rue Alphonse Weicker 5
L-2721, Luxembourg

Production
Data processing, statistical analysis, design and desktop publishing
INFORMA sarl
Giovanni Albertone, Simon Allen, Edward Cook, Andrew Redpath

Data extracted
The data were extracted in December 2008 and January 2009.

Contact details
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centres may be obtained at http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/help/user_support.
For journalists:
Eurostat media support
Tel: (352) 4301 33408
Fax: (352) 4301 35349
eurostat-mediasupport@ec.europa.eu

For more information
All the chapters of European business: facts and figures in PDF format and MS Excel fi les containing the data used in
the tables and figures can be downloaded from the Eurostat website free of charge. The structural business statistics
dedicated section is located on the ‘Statistics’ page, under the subheading of ‘Structural business statistics’ under the
heading ‘Industry, trade and services’, accessible from the Eurostat homepage, at http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat.

Contents

Contents
Introduction 5
Business economy overview 9
1.1: Macro-economic outlook 10
1.2: Structural profi le of the business economy 18
1.3: Expenditure, productivity and profitability 31
1.4: Enterprise demography and size class analysis 42
1.5: Employment characteristics 50
1.6: Evolution of production, employment and turnover 54
1.7: External trade 59
Mining and quarrying 65
2.1: Extraction of energy producing materials 73
2.2: Non-energy mining and quarrying 79
Food, beverages and tobacco 85
3.1: Meat 95
3.2: Fish 97
3.3: Dairy products 99
3.4: Bread, sugar, confectionery and other food products 101
3.5: Miscellaneous food products 105
3.6: Beverages 108
3.7: Tobacco 111
Textiles, clothing, leather and footwear 115
4.1: Textiles 123
4.2: Clothing 126
4.3: Leather and footwear 130
Wood and paper 135
5.1: Wood and wood products 143
5.2: Pulp, paper and paper products 146
Fuel processing and chemicals 151
6.1: Fuel processing 160
6.2: Basic industrial chemicals (including petrochemicals) 162
6.3: Miscellaneous chemical products 165
6.4: Pharmaceuticals 170
Rubber and plastics 175
7.1: Rubber 182
7.2: Plastics 184
Other non-metallic mineral products 189
8.1: Glass 196
8.2: Ceramic and clay products 199
8.3: Cement and concrete 201
8.4: Stone and miscellaneous non-metallic mineral products 204

2 European business — Facts and figures

Contents

Metals and metal products 209
9.1: First processing of ferrous metals 217
9.2: Basic precious and non-ferrous metals 220
9.3: Casting 222
9.4: Structural metal products 223
9.5: Boilers, metal containers and steam generators 226
9.6: Other metal processing 228
9.7: Miscellaneous fabricated metal products 230
Machinery and equipment 237
10.1: General purpose machinery 244
10.2: Agricultural and forestry machinery 246
10.3: Industrial processing machinery 248
10.4: Arms and ammunition 251
10.5: Domestic appliances 253
Electrical machinery and optical equipment 257
11.1: Instrument engineering 266
11.2: Computers and office equipment 270
11.3: Electrical machinery and equipment 273
11.4: Radio, television and communication equipment 277
Transport equipment 285
12.1: Motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers 294
12.2: Ships and boats 297
12.3: Railway equipment 299
12.4: Aerospace equipment 300
12.5: Miscellaneous transport equipment 302
Furniture and other manufacturing activities 307
13.1: Furniture 313
13.2: Other manufacturing activities 316
Network supply of electricity, gas and steam 321
Water supply and recycling 331
15.1: Water supply 337
15.2: Recycling 339
Construction 345
16.1: Site preparation 354
16.2: General construction 355
16.3: Building installation 357
16.4: Building completion 360
16.5: Renting of construction equipment 363
Motor trades 365
17.1: Motor vehicles and motorcycles distribution 372
17.2: Retail sale of automotive fuel 375
Wholesale trade 379
18.1: Wholesale on a fee or contract basis 387
18.2: Agricultural wholesaling 388
18.3: Wholesaling of consumer goods 390
18.4: Wholesaling of intermediate goods 392
18.5: Wholesaling of machinery and equipment 394
18.6: Other wholesale trade 397

European business — Facts and figures 3

Contents

Retail trade and repair 399
19.1: Non-specialised in-store retailing 408
19.2: Specialised in-store food retailing 410
19.3: Specialised in-store retailing other than food 413
19.4: Second-hand goods retailing in stores 416
19.5: Retail sales not in stores 417
19.6: Repair of personal and household goods 419
Accommodation and food services 421
20.1: Accommodation services 428
20.2: Restaurants, bars and catering 431
Transport and storage 435
21.1: Rail transport 445
21.2: Road and other land transport 447
21.3: Pipelines 450
21.4: Water transport 451
21.5: Air transport 454
21.6: Warehousing and transport support activities 457
21.7: Activities of travel agencies 460
Media and communications 465
22.1: Publishing 472
22.2: Printing and reproduction of recorded media 473
22.3: Post and courier activities 475
22.4: Telecommunication services 478
Real estate and renting and leasing 483
23.1: Real estate services 489
23.2: Renting and operating leasing 491
Research and development 495
Business services 501
25.1: Computer and information services 509
25.2: Professional business services 511
25.3: Technical business services 514
25.4: Advertising 515
25.5: Personnel services 517
25.6: Other business services 519
Financial and insurance services 523
26.1: Financial intermediation 527
26.2: Funds and similar financial entities 532
26.3: Insurance and pension funds 534
26.4: Financial auxiliaries 537
Background information 543
Notes on data sources 545
Abbreviations 556


Introduction

Introduction complemented by sector specific information that
highlights aspects of specific concern and distin-
guishing features. Each chapter concludes with
Objectives, scope and structure a statistical annex presenting a selection of the
of the publication most important indicators. The analyses focus on
This publication gives a comprehensive picture the EU-27, while available data for the Member
of the structure, development and characteristics States and for Norway are included (subject to
of European business and its different activities: availability).
from mining and quarrying, through manufac-
turing activities, to energy transmission and re- Changes compared with
cycling, construction and a range of services. It the previous edition
presents the latest available statistics (extracted
This edition of European business continues the
in December 2008 and January 2009) from a
efforts made in recent years to focus increasingly
wide selection of statistical sources describing for
on official statistics, and to broaden and deepen
each activity: output and employment; country
the analysis as the European statistical system
specialisation and regional distribution; gross
continues to make advances. A particular effort
operating and tangible investment expenditure,
has been made in this edition to include, where
productivity and profitability; the importance of
available, data at the most detailed activity level
small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs); la-
(NACE four digit or class level) and to facilitate
bour force characteristics.
further comparisons across the different ac-
All of the statistical information contained with- tivities of the business economy (chapters and
in this publication is structured according to the subchapters).
NACE Rev. 1.1 classification of economic activi-
A number of changes in the structure and organi-
ties or the related CPA classification of products
sation of the chapters have been made when com-
from 2002, although there are older and more
pared with the 2007 edition, essentially to try to
recent versions of both of these classifications.
follow more closely the NACE classification and
Within the text, all subsequent references to the
to re-align chapter definitions with those activi-
term NACE refer to NACE Rev. 1.1 and CPA to
ties covered by the SBS Regulation.
CPA 2002. The statistics in this publication cov-
er what is referred to as the business economy, 1. Chapter 2 (mining and quarrying): has been
defined here as the sum of industry, construc- moved to the start of the sectoral chapters
tion and services (NACE Sections C to K). The to reflect its position within the NACE
publication does not cover agriculture, forestry classification, and has been split from fuel
and fishing, nor the public administration and processing and energy activities;
largely non-market services such as education 2. Chapter 6 (fuel processing and chemicals):
and health. Note that because of a lack of stand- this chapter has been created by taking what
ard business statistics, financial services are kept used to be part of the energy chapter and
separate from the other sectors, and comparisons combining it with one of its main downstream
are made throughout the publication against a industrial activities, namely, the manufacture
benchmark called the non-financial business of chemicals;
economy (as defined by NACE Rev. 1.1 Sections 3. Chapter 7 (rubber and plastics): have been
C to I and K). split from the previous chapter, where they
used to be treated together with chemicals;
The first chapter provides a general overview of
4. Chapter 14 (network supply of electricity, gas
the EU-27’s business economy, with comparisons
and steam): this is a new chapter that has also
made across the main sectors. In addition, some
been created as a result of splitting up the
information of a cross-sectoral nature is present-
energy-related activities;
ed, such as energy costs, business demography,
5. Chapter 24 (research and development):
the importance of foreign controlled enterprises,
previously covered together with real estate
etc.
and renting (Chapter 23), has been given its
It is followed by 25 sectoral chapters, consisting own chapter;
of an overview of the activity in question, usually 6. Chapter 26 (financial and insurance services):
followed by a number of subchapters that ana- a new subchapter on funds and similar
lyse its component activities. The chapters and financial entities has been included.
subchapters present a standard set of information


Introduction

Data sources as the price of goods and services with respect to
suppliers or customers abroad is (at least in part)
The main part of the analysis contained within
likely to reflect exchange rate fluctuations.
European business is derived from structural
business statistics (SBS), including core, busi- These exchange rate movements are inherent
ness statistics which are disseminated regularly, within all the monetary indicators that are pre-
as well as information compiled on a multi-yearly sented in this publication, as data are consist-
basis, and the latest results from development ently shown in the euro (EUR) denomination. As
projects. such, exchange rate fluctuations should be born
in mind when analysing the evolution of series
Other data sources which are used extensively
over time, especially between euro area and non-
throughout the publication include short-term
euro area countries. The final section of this pub-
statistics (STS), the labour force survey (LFS),
lication contains a table showing exchange rates
PRODCOM (statistics by product) and external
against the euro for the period 1997 to 2007.
trade (the last two are only used for industrial
chapters). In addition, use has also been made
Dedicated website
of specialist sources for particular areas, nota-
bly transport, energy, research and development, The structural business statistics dedicated sec-
environment, tourism and information society tion (which may be found on the Eurostat web-
statistics. site) has been compiled by Eurostat’s structural
business statistics unit. It provides access to a
This edition of European business has also ben-
selection of publications, data and background
efited from the co-operation of a wide range of
information describing European business. It
professional trade associations (representative or-
includes a presentation of the statistics by topic
ganisations) and other non-official bodies. Tables
(including special topics such as globalisation,
and figures based on data from these non-official
SMEs, foreign controlled enterprises, etc). All the
sources are clearly sourced.
chapters of European business: facts and figures
in PDF format and MS Excel fi les containing the
Time frame data used in the tables and figures can be down-
The majority of the data presented within this loaded from here, free of charge. The structural
edition of European business was extracted from business statistics dedicated section is located
Eurostat databases during December 2008 and directly under the theme Industry, trade and
January 2009. The text was written during the services on the Eurostat website or by using the
first quarter of 2009. Data are generally available following link:
up to the 2006 reference year for structural busi-
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/
ness statistics, and up to 2007 for the other official
portal/european_business/introduction.
sources.
There are also dedicated sections available for:
Exchange rates • Short-term business statistics: http://epp.
The competitiveness of an economy can be radi- eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/
cally changed as a result of movements in cur- short_term_business_statistics/introduction;
rency exchange rates. Euro exchange rates were • Statistics by product: http://epp.eurostat.
fi xed for eleven Member States in 1999; Greece ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/prodcom/
subsequently joined the euro area in 2001, and introduction, and;
was followed by Slovenia at the start of 2007, Cy- • External trade: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.
prus and Malta at the start of 2008, and Slovakia eu /por ta l /page/por ta l /ex ter na l _t rade/
at the start of 2009. introduction.
Fixed exchange rates, or a common currency More statistics available on-line
such as the euro, can reduce uncertainty, particu-
This publication presents only a selection of the
larly for enterprises that have a high propensity to
data available. Readers who are interested in
import or export goods and services from or to
knowing more about a certain topic or sector, or
other countries using the same or linked curren-
accessing a longer time-series, or downloading
cies. For those enterprises that operate across cur-
the freshest data are encouraged to consult (free-
rency borders, for example into or out of the euro
of-charge) Eurostat’s website: http://ec.europa.eu/
area, there may be a higher degree of uncertainty,
eurostat.


Introduction

Main tables Structural business statistics (SBS)
There are a number of ways for users to access/ Annual structural business statistics are available
extract data. The most simple is to use what are as part of the industry, trade and services domain
referred to as main tables (automatically up- of the Eurostat statistics database (available on
dated), presenting selected, key indicators. Main the Eurostat website). The first heading of this
tables are available for practically the full range branch concerns SBS – Main indicators, the first
of subjects for which Eurostat has data, not just table (European business) presents the majority
business statistics. of the important indicators used in the publica-
tion across a full range of NACE divisions, while
For structural business statistics there are a set of
a second table presents summary indicators by
main tables which provide an overview of busi-
size class.
ness structures in the countries and/or for the
EU as a whole, as well as tables which provide se- Thereafter the tables are structured by activity,
lected data for specific sectors: industry and con- again these include the main structural vari-
struction, distributive trades, services and finan- ables (such as value added and employment), as
cial services. Most tables contain data by country well as derived indicators (including apparent
and years; these are only available with a limited labour productivity, average personnel costs and
activity breakdown. They are complemented by wage adjusted labour productivity). However, the
some tables which show a more detailed activity list of indicators is considerably longer than the
breakdown only for the EU-27 aggregate. main indicators that are used within European
business and the size class summary tables. In-
Complete database deed, the data set covers all variables collected
under the SBS Regulation, as well as a number
Database access allows users to select informa-
of derived indicators based on these. As the data
tion from the whole data set, based on user de-
are split according to activity, users who wish to
fined data extractions. This option should be used
obtain data across all NACE will need to make a
by those who wish to make their own selection of
number of extractions. Note that the data under
statistics. The data that is returned when query-
the heading annual enterprise statistics do not in-
ing the database may be extracted in a variety of
clude much information for financial intermedia-
formats:
tion (NACE Section J), as specific tables are pro-
i. as an HTML page for an Internet browser; vided for credit institutions, insurance services,
ii. as a tab delimited fi le for a spreadsheet and pension funds.
application, or;
The next heading in the SBS data tree contains the
iii. as a flat text fi le for a database application.
information that was used to construct the maps
that are presented in the overview of each chap-
ter, in other words, annual regional statistics.
The link below takes the user into the Eurostat
database at the point where the SBS data tree can
be expanded, from where tailor-made extractions
can be made, specifying all of the dimensions of
the data request, including the countries, time
periods, indicators, and units.
To extract data: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.
eu/portal/page/portal/european_business/data/
database.


Introduction

Special topics for structural business The structure of the tables presented for construc-
statistics tion follows very closely the structure used for
industry, with separate tables for indices of pro-
In addition to those tables which are documented duction, new orders, labour input, construction
above, there is also more specific SBS information costs for new residential buildings, and building
on a collection of particular topics, such as: permits (number of dwellings and area).
• Business demography The structure of the tables for distributive trades
• Business registers and other services is somewhat different, as the
• Business services information is initially divided according to the
• Demand for services activity under analysis, with separate tables for
• Entrepreneurship indicators wholesale and retail trade, and for other services.
• EuroGroups register
• Factors of business success To extract data: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/
• Foreign-controlled enterprises portal/page/portal/short_term_business_statistics/
• Globalisation data/database.
• Inter-enterprise relations
• International sourcing PRODCOM
• Regional structural business statistics Information on product statistics (PRODCOM)
• Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is also available as part of the industry, trade and
To extract data: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa. services domain, under a separate heading called
eu/portal/page/portal/european_business/data/ Statistics by product. This set of data is quite par-
database. ticular insofar as the links presented take the user
to either a set of MS Excel spreadsheets or a data-
Short-term business statistics base application (rather than the standard inter-
face used for most Eurostat data). The application
The information on short-term business statis- presents the user with the choice of extracting
tics (STS) is also available as part of the industry, external trade or PRODCOM data (annual or
trade and services domain on the Eurostat web- monthly). The interface permits the selection of
site. The data are structured under three main the country, PRODCOM code (PRCCODE), vol-
headings: industry; construction; and trade and ume or value data (measurement unit), period,
other services. and indicator (production, imports or exports).
Within the industry domain the data is broken The application also allows for exports and im-
down according to the indicators specified in the ports to be extracted at the same time. In order to
STS Regulation. There are tables presented for make user-defined queries of PRODCOM data:
indices of production, import prices, turnover, http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/newxtweb/. In
new orders, labour input (number of persons em- order to use/downloaded PRODCOM data in MS
ployed; volume of work done/hours worked, gross Excel format: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/
wages and salaries), and producer (output) prices. portal/page/portal/prodcom/data/tables_excel.
A number of tables exist for each of these indices,
with monthly, quarterly and annual frequencies
often available, while there may be different pres-
entations for certain indices (gross, working day
adjusted, seasonally adjusted, or trend cycle).


1 Business economy overview

At the time of writing, global, economic events spread to other activities – such as, motor vehi-
were unfolding. Following the collapse of banks, cle manufacturing and airlines. Alternatively, at
and intense pressure on banking systems, falling the time of writing, several Member States have
stock market indices, and in many cases falling been permitted to introduce direct-aid schemes,
housing prices, there was evidence an economic whereby up to EUR 500 thousand could be given
downturn. This was apparent in terms of falling to businesses in financial difficulty.
demand, waning business and consumer confi-
dence, lower industrial output and reduced vol-
umes of retail sales.
1.1: Macro-economic outlook
In this economic environment, the renewed Lis- Gross domestic product (GDP)
bon strategy (as reiterated in 2005), which seeks
to foster economic dynamism and help create The most common indicator for measuring a na-
more and better jobs, faces greater challenges. tion’s economic activity is gross domestic prod-
The strategy undertakes to ensure that business- uct (GDP). This indicator covers the production
es can compete openly and fairly, while making activity of resident producers, calculated as the
Europe an attractive place to invest and work in. sum of gross value added from all activities/in-
Enterprise policy within the EU aims to create an dustries within an economy.
environment that encourages entrepreneurs and It is important to consider the cyclical changes
businesses to flourish. There are a wide range of in GDP over the past decade when reading the
initiatives intended to increase competitiveness sectoral chapters that follow, as the evolution of
or nurture European businesses, in particular, output or sales in many activities follows closely
small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). the economic cycle of the whole economy. GDP
Current enterprise policy (more details at: http:// growth in the EU-27 rose at a relatively fast pace
ec.europa.eu/enterprise/index_en.htm), aims to: during the late 1990s, with annual rates of growth
• promote entrepreneurship, competitiveness, peaking in 2000 at 3.9 %, after which there was a
productivity growth, innovation, access to slowdown in the pace at which economic activ-
funding, and support networks; ity expanded, in particular for 2002 and 2003.
• implement a flexible and simplified regulatory The EU-27’s GDP growth thereafter accelerated
and administrative framework; with rapid expansions in 2006 (3.1 %) and 2007
• open-up markets; (2.9 %). At the time of writing, latest forecasts
• encourage businesses to adapt to structural for 2008 show a considerable slowdown in activ-
change; ity, with the rate of GDP growth almost halving
• ensure coordination and balance between between 2007 and 2008, while forecasts for 2009
industrial, energy and environmental from a range of international organisations point
policies. to global growth rates close to zero.
In order to sustain its ambitions, many com- Figure 1.1 shows the evolution of constant price
mentators argue that Europe needs to accelerate GDP (at fi xed 2000 exchange rates) between 1998
reform, becoming more entrepreneurial, making and 2008 in the Triad economies of the EU-27, Ja-
business easier to carry out, while at the same time pan and the United States (forecasts are included
promoting sustainability through protection of for 2008). GDP rose on average by 2.3 % per an-
the environment and social values. Others would num in the EU-27 during the period concerned,
argue that in periods of economic recession, it is which was below the rate recorded for the United
understandable that governments encourage the States (2.8 % per annum), but higher than that for
consumption of home-produced goods. Indeed, Japan (1.6 % per annum).
recent political debate has centred on evidence of The level of GDP, per se, says little about the eco-
a more protectionist stance: for example, moves nomic performance of a country. In order to nor-
to protect activities that are considered to be of malise GDP, one of the most common approaches
particular national importance, threats to the is to use GDP per capita (obtained by dividing GDP
free movement of workers, or non-compliance by the number of inhabitants in a country/region).
with Stability and Growth Pact rules. Support for This indicator is often used as a measure of living
failing sectors of the economy has been most no- standards. For international comparisons, GDP
table within the banking sector, but subsequently per capita should ideally be calculated in terms of


Figure 1.1: Business economy overview
GDP at market prices in constant prices (EUR billion, chain-linked volumes, at 2000 exchange rates)
15 000

10 000

5 000

0
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 (1)
US
EU-27
JP
(1) Forecasts.
Source: Eurostat (Economy and finance)

purchasing power standards (PPS) (1). Figure 1.2 accounted for 28.1 % of the EU-27 total in 2007.
shows that Luxembourg had by far the highest lev- Distribution, hotels, restaurants and catering
el of GDP per capita in PPS terms in 2007, at just (HORECA), communications and transport serv-
over three times the EU-27 average, well above the ices (NACE Sections G to I) and industry (NACE
next highest figures that were recorded for Ireland Sections C to E) both accounted for slightly more
and Denmark (where GDP per capita was 76 % than a fift h of the EU-27’s economic output. Con-
and 67 % above the EU-27 average). At the other struction (NACE Section F) registered a 6.5 %
end of the range, the 12 Member States that joined share, while among those activities not covered
the EU in 2004 or 2007, as well as Spain, Greece within this publication, the lion’s share of the re-
and Portugal, all reported GDP per capita below maining added value (22.4 % of the EU-27 total)
the EU-27 average. The lowest standard of living was generated by public administration, health,
(using this measure) was recorded in Romania and education, other services and households (NACE
in Bulgaria, where this ratio was less than a quar- Sections L to P); the outstanding 1.8 % of value
ter of the EU-27 average. added was attributed to agriculture, hunting, for-
estry and fishing (NACE Sections A and B).
Structure of the EU economy – an The structure of economic output within the
overview EU-27 has generally shifted away from traditional
According to national accounts, the group of economic sectors such as agriculture or industry,
activities covered by this publication – hereafter towards services. This trend may, at least in part,
referred to as the business economy (NACE Sec- be attributed to the outsourcing phenomenon, as
tions C to K) – accounted for 75.8 % of the to- supporting and ancillary operations which were
tal value added generated in the EU-27 in 2007 previously done in-house are awarded to outside
(see Figure 1.3). This marked an increase of 0.9 contractors (for example, transport services or lo-
percentage points when compared with the cor- gistics, information technology, accounting and
responding share of a decade before. payroll services, or industrial cleaning). Inter-
national outsourcing implies that an enterprise
The largest sector (in terms of value added gener- contracts out work to external suppliers from
ated) was financial, real estate, renting and busi- another country, whereas off-shoring is when
ness activities (NACE Sections J and K), which an enterprise maintains control/ownership of a
(1) A purchasing power parity is a currency conversion rate that allows indicators expressed in national currency to be converted to an artificial common
currency while adjusting for different price levels between countries; this artificial common currency is called the purchasing power standard (note
that EU-27 values are unchanged in euro and PPS terms).



Figure 1.2: Business economy overview Figure 1.3: Business economy overview
GDP per capita at market prices, 2007 Breakdown of value added in current prices, EU-27
(EU-27=100, based on PPS) (% of total value added)
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
1997
EU-27
Agriculture,
LU
hunting,
IE Public admin.;
forestry &
DK health;
fishing
SE education;
2.8%
NL other services;
households Industry
FI
22.3% 23.3%
UK
AT
BE
FR
DE Construction
IT 5.6%
ES Financial, real
estate, Distribution;
EL
renting & HORECA;
CY
business transp. &
SI
activities comm.
PT
24.8% 21.3%
MT
CZ
2007
EE
SK Agriculture,
HU hunting, forestry &
LV Public admin.; fishing
health; education; 1.8%
LT
other services;
PL Industry
households
RO (1) 20.1%
22.4%
BG
NO
IS
Construction
CH
6.5%
US
JP
HR
TR (1) Financial, real Distribution;
MK (1) estate, renting & HORECA; transp. &
business activities comm.
(1) Forecasts. 21.1%
28.1%


production/service facility that moves abroad. chances of market entry in an untapped region.
These phenomena are examples of how structural However, the process is not restricted to indus-
changes may take place in the European business trial activities, as several services have followed
economy, as enterprises relocate in the face of a similar pattern, for example, call centres, fi-
relatively high wages and increased global trade nancial and computer services, or research and
that have driven out (in particular) price sensitive development activities. These changes in the way
segments of the EU-27 economy to lower labour that enterprises do business may, at least in part,
cost regions. As such, some industrial enterprises explain why the share of industry in EU-27 to-
have sought to invest in production facilities in tal value added declined by 3.2 percentage points
emerging economies to benefit from relatively between 1997 and 2007, while the largest relative
low unit labour costs and/or to improve their gains were concentrated among financial, real


estate, renting and business activities, where a 3.3 Figure 1.4: Business economy overview
percentage point increase was registered. Breakdown of employment, EU-27 (% of total employment)
Just under two thirds (65.3 %) of the EU-27’s work-
1997
force were employed within the business econo-
my in 2007 (see Figure 1.4); this was more than Agriculture,
10 percentage points lower than the correspond- Public admin.; hunting, forestry
& fishing
ing share of the business economy in total value health;
education; other 8.0%
added. The difference could be largely attributed
to the relatively low share of persons employed services;
households
in financial, real estate, renting and business ac-
27.8% Industry
tivities (15.1 % of the total workforce, compared 21.1%
with a 28.1 % share of total value added). In con-
trast, agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing;
construction; distribution, HORECA, communi-
cations and transport services; as well as public Construction
administration, health, education, other services Financial, real 6.9%
and households were all relatively labour-inten- estate, renting &
sive. Indeed, the largest employer in the EU-27 in business
2007 (on the basis of national accounts data) was activities Distribution;
11.7% HORECA; transp.
public administration, health, education, other
& comm.
services and households, accounting for almost 24.5%
three out of every ten persons (28.9 %). Just over
a quarter (25.3 %) of the EU-27’s workforce was 2007
employed in distribution, HORECA, communi- Agriculture,
cations or transport services. Public admin.; hunting, forestry &
health; education; fishing
Structural differences between the other services; 5.8%
Member States households
28.9% Industry
Figure 1.5 shows the relative contribution of the 17.6%
six national accounts activity aggregates to total
value added in 2007. The structural differences
observed between the Member States should be
Construction
borne in mind when reading the sectoral chap-
7.4%
ters of this publication. In particular, it is impor-
tant to consider the relative weight of those sec-
tors that are not included in the main body of the Financial, real
publication, as agriculture, hunting, forestry and estate, renting & Distribution;
business activities HORECA; transp. &
fishing, and more particularly, public adminis-
15.1% comm.
tration, health, education, other services and
25.3%
households can often account for a relatively high
share of economic activity. However, the relative Source: Eurostat (Economy and ﬁnance)
weight of these two activities does not have a di-
rect impact on the calculation of shares and ratios
that are presented throughout the publication as
the non-financial business economy is often used 30.6 % in Malta, falling to almost half this level
as the denominator when creating indicators for in Luxembourg (16.6 %). The relative importance
analysis. of agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing was
particularly high in Romania and Bulgaria (7.5 %
On average, agriculture, hunting, forestry and and 6.2 %), while upwards of 25 % of total value
fishing and public administration, health, edu- added was generated by public administration,
cation, other services and households accounted health, education, other services and house-
for 24.2 % of total value added in the EU-27 in holds in Malta, Denmark, Portugal, Sweden and
2007. Their share of total value added peaked at France.



Figure 1.5: Business economy overview Among the activities covered by the sectoral
Breakdown of gross value added at basic prices, 2007 chapters of this publication, Luxembourg, France
(% share of total gross value added) and the United Kingdom were all relatively spe-
cialised in financial, real estate, renting and busi-
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
ness activities, as these activities accounted for
EU-27 upwards of 30 % of their total value added (ris-
BE ing to 47.3 % in Luxembourg). Industrial activi-
BG ties were particularly concentrated within cen-
CZ tral Europe, with the highest shares of industry
DK in total value added being recorded in the Czech
DE Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Romania and Slov-
EE enia. In contrast, the tourism-rich economies of
IE Greece, Cyprus and Malta were joined by the Bal-
EL tic States and Poland, where distribution activi-
ES ties accounted for a relatively high share of value
FR
added, as the Member States that displayed the
IT
highest degree of specialisation in distribution,
CY
HORECA, communications and transport serv-
ices. The most specialised Member States within
LV
the construction sector were Spain (12.3 % of to-
LT
tal value added), Romania (10.3 %) and Lithuania
LU
(10.2 %).
HU
MT Figure 1.6 shows a similar breakdown for em-
NL ployment: the main difference is the striking
AT number of persons employed within agriculture,
PL hunting, forestry and fishing activities in Roma-
PT nia (2006), Bulgaria and Poland (2006), a share
RO that rose to 30.6 % in Romania. The relative im-
SI portance of public administration, health, edu-
SK cation, other services and households was also
FI generally higher in relation to employment when
SE compared with value added. Indeed, as many as
UK 39.0 % of the Swedish workforce were occupied in
HR
these activities in 2007, and upwards of one third
MK (1)
of the total in France (2006), Denmark, Belgium
TR
and Finland.
IS (1)
NO
Future challenges; information
CH technology and climatic change
In its mid-term review of industrial policy
Agriculture, hunting, forestry & fishing
Industry (COM(2007) 374), the European Commission
Construction identified some key challenges facing European
Distribution; HORECA; transp. & comm.
Financial, real estate, renting & business activities
business, in particular, the intensified impact of
Public admin.; health; education etc. globalisation and technological change, the chal-
(1) 2006. lenges posed by climate change, and the possibili-
Source: Eurostat (Economy and ﬁnance) ties for exploring opportunities relating to new
low-energy and resource-saving processes and
products.


One basic indicator to measure the take-up of in- Figure 1.6: Business economy overview
formation technology is the Internet penetration Breakdown of employment, 2007
rate. The proportion of EU-27 enterprises having (% share of total employment)
access to the Internet in 2008 was 93 % (2), while
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
81 % of all enterprises had a broadband connec-
tion (see Figure 1.8). This latter share ranged from EU-27
92 % in France, Spain and Finland, to less than BE
two thirds of all enterprises in Bulgaria, Latvia,
BG
Poland, Lithuania and Romania (where the low-
CZ
est share of 44 % was registered).
DK
Aside from its potential for making business
DE
more productive and efficient, the Internet also
EE
offers a range of opportunities for e-commerce,
both with other businesses (B2B), as well as final IE
consumers (B2C). A relatively small proportion EL
of enterprises (16 %) in the EU-27 received orders ES
on-line in 2008, with this latest figure represent- FR (1)
ing a gain of four percentage points in relation to
IT
2005 (see Figure 1.9). The likelihood that an en-
CY
terprise received orders on-line rose as a function
of its average size, from 15 % for small enterprises LV
to 33 % for large enterprises. LT
LU
Some 28 % of enterprises in the EU-27 in 2008
made on-line purchases, which was also four per- HU
centage points higher than in 2005. As with sales MT (2)
through the Internet, the highest proportion of NL
enterprises making purchases over the Internet AT
was recorded among large enterprises (42 %).
PL (1)
Note, however, that the pace at which Internet
PT
sales and purchases grew between 2005 and 2008
was fastest among small enterprises. RO (1)
SI
The EU has set ambitious environmental goals to
SK
increase energy efficiency, to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions (by at least 20 % by 2020), to pro- FI
mote renewable energy sources, and to invest in SE
a range of environmental industries. Figure 1.10 UK
shows that there have been sizeable reductions in NO
national emissions across the EU-27, on the ba-
CH (1)
sis of a comparison with 1990 – in particular for
ozone precursors, particulate matter and acidi- Agriculture, hunting, forestry & fishing
fying pollutants. Figure 1.11 presents more de- Industry
Construction
tail in relation to the main sources of emissions, Distribution; HORECA; transp. & comm.
with fuel consumption for transport and within Financial, real estate, renting & business activities
energy-producing industries generally account- Public admin.; health; education etc.
able for the highest levels. Energy-producing in- (1) 2006.
(2) Not available.
dustries and transport accounted for almost one
third and one fift h (31 % and 19 %) of all green-
house gas emissions in 2006. Between 1990 and
2006 there was a general trend for EU-27 emis-
sions from energy-producing industries and from
industrial and construction activities to fall (as a
share of total emissions), while the share of emis-
sions from transport tended to rise.

(2) Information covers enterprises with 10 or more persons employed in NACE Sections D, F, G, I and K, as well as Groups 55.1, 55.2, 92.1 and 92.2.



Use of computers and the Internet by enterprises, EU-27 (%) (1)
100

75

50

25

0
Using computers Having access Broadband access Using a LAN Using a Using the Internet for
to the Internet wireless LAN banking and financial
services

2005 2008

(1) Information covers enterprises with 10 or more persons employed in NACE Rev. 1.1 Sections D, F, G, I and K, as well as Groups 55.1, 55.2, 92.1 and 92.2.
Source: Eurostat (Information society statistics)

Proportion of enterprises having access to the Internet, 2008 (%) (1)
100

75

50

25

0
EU- FI NL DK BE SI AT SE EE LU IE SK ES FR DE CZ IT LT UK EL PL MT PT CY LV HU BG RO IS NO HR
27 (2) (2)

Total
Broadband connection
(1) Ranked on total proportion of enterprises with a connection; information covers enterprises with 10 or more persons employed in NACE Rev. 1.1 Sections D, F, G,
I and K, as well as Groups 55.1, 55.2, 92.1 and 92.2.
(2) 2007.


Proportion of enterprises purchasing and selling on-line, EU-27 (%) (1)
50

40

30

20

10

0
Total Small Medium- Large Total Small Medium- Large
sized sized

Having purchased on-line Having received orders on-line

2005 2008
(1) Purchases or orders received of at least 1 % during the previous calendar year; information covers enterprises with 10 or more persons
employed in NACE Rev. 1.1 Sections D, F, G, I and K, as well as Groups 55.1, 55.2, 92.1 and 92.2.

Development of total national emissions of selected air pollutants, EU-27 (1990=100)
100

75

50

25

0
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Greenhouse gases
Tropospheric ozone precursors
Primary PM10 and (weighted) PM10 precursors (1)
Acidifying pollutants
(1) PM10 is particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to 10 microns.
Source: Eurostat (Air pollution/climate change )



Air emissions: share of selected sources in total emissions, EU-27 (%)
100

75

50

25

0
1990 2006 1990 2006 1990 2006 1990 2006

Greenhouse gases Tropospheric ozone Primary PM10 and Acidifying pollutants
precursors (weighted) PM10
precursors (1)

Industrial processes
Industrial and construction activities - fuel consumption
Transport - fuel consumption
Energy industries - fuel consumption
(1) PM10 is particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to 10 microns.
Source: Eurostat (Air pollution/climate change )

1.2: Structural profile of the The legislation in respect to structural business
statistics was modified in 2002 by a Decision (No
business economy 2367/2002/EC) of the European Parliament and
Regulation ((EC) No 58/1997) established a com- the Council in order to ensure that the collection of
mon framework for the collection, compilation, statistics was guided by the principal Community
transmission and evaluation of Community sta- policy priorities of economic and monetary union,
tistics on the structure, activity, competitiveness enlargement and competitiveness, regional policy,
and performance of businesses in the Communi- sustainable development and the social agenda.
ty. These structural business statistics (SBS) con- A recast structural business statistics Regulation
stitute the principal source of information used ((EC) No 295/2008) came into force in February
in this publication. The main SBS aggregates, of- 2008 and provides ten modules for the produc-
ten referred to during the course of this publication of business statistics. The regulation foresees
tion, include: that the first reference year for which statistics
• the non-financial business economy (NACE will generally be compiled is calendar year 2008;
Rev. 1.1 Sections C to I and K); in addition the statistics should be collected ac-
• industry (NACE Sections Rev. 1.1 C to E); cording to the revised classification of economic
• construction (NACE Rev. 1.1 Section F), and; activities (NACE Rev. 2). This recast Regulation
• non-financial services (NACE Rev. 1.1 should provide for the continuation of existing
Sections G to I and K). statistical support in current policy areas and
satisfy additional requirements arising from new
Note that financial services (NACE Rev. 1.1 Sec- Community policy initiatives, as well as reviews
tion J) are kept separate (see Chapter 26) because of statistical priorities. The Member States will
of their specific nature and the limited availability generally have 18 months to deliver these statis-
of most standard business statistics in this area. tics to Eurostat and hence the data for 2008 is ex-
pected to be available by the summer of 2010. As
such, this publication continues to present data
using the NACE Rev. 1.1 classification of eco-
nomic activities.


Table 1.1: Business economy overview
Main indicators for the non-financial business economy, EU-27, 2006 (1)
Turnover Value added Persons employed
(% of non- (% of non- (% of non-
financial financial financial
(EUR business (EUR business business
Chapter billion) economy) billion) economy) (thousands) economy)
1 Non-financial business economy 22 311 100.0 5 650 100.0 129 773 100.0
Industry 7 984 35.8 2 004 35.5 36 744 28.3
2 Mining & quarrying 235 1.1 89 1.6 733 0.6
3 Food, beverages & tobacco 942 4.2 197 3.5 4 700 3.6
4 Textiles, clothing, leather & footwear 235 1.1 65 1.1 2 998 2.3
5 Wood & paper 300 1.3 78 1.4 1 984 1.5
6 Fuel processing & chemicals (2) 1 099 5.3 217 4.0 2 068 1.6
7 Rubber & plastics 275 1.2 78 1.4 1 750 1.3
8 Other non-metallic mineral products 242 1.1 80 1.4 1 587 1.2
9 Metals & metal products 864 3.9 244 4.3 5 081 3.9
10 Machinery & equipment 621 2.8 193 3.4 3 650 2.8
11 Electrical machinery & optical equipment 710 3.2 203 3.6 3 668 2.8
12 Transport equipment 945 4.2 195 3.5 3 152 2.4
13 Furniture & other manufacturing 175 0.8 53 0.9 1 800 1.4
14 Network supply of electricity, gas & steam 885 4.0 180 3.2 1 227 0.9
15 Recycling & water supply 91 0.4 31 0.6 521 0.4
16 Construction 1 553 7.0 510 9.0 14 093 10.9
Non-financial services 12 774 57.3 3 136 55.5 78 936 60.8
17 Motor trades 1 327 5.9 162 2.9 4 242 3.3
18 Wholesale trade 4 603 20.6 519 9.2 9 962 7.7
19 Retail trade & repair 2 272 10.2 418 7.4 17 472 13.5
20 Accommodation & food services 434 1.9 182 3.2 9 266 7.1
21 Transport and storage 1 209 5.4 400 7.1 8 847 6.8
22 Media & communications 792 3.6 350 6.2 4 857 3.7
23 Real estate, renting & leasing (3) 650 3.1 340 6.0 3 290 2.6
24 Research & development (2) 43 0.2 22 0.4 400 0.3
25 Business services 1 763 7.9 892 15.8 22 202 17.1
(1) Includes rounded estimates of non-conﬁdential data.
(2) Turnover and value added, 2005.
(3) Turnover and number of persons employed, 2005.
Source: Eurostat (SBS)

Structural profile of the EU-27’s non- Business services, retail trade and repair, and
financial business economy the construction sector together accounted for
almost 55 % of all enterprises active within the
There were just over 20 million active enterprises EU-27’s non-financial business economy in 2006;
within the EU-27’s non-financial business econ- almost 4.4 million enterprises were active within
omy in 2006 (see Table 1.2). The vast majority of business services, and nearly 3.8 million within
these (73.9 %) were operating within non-financial the retail trade and repair sector.
services, while a higher proportion of enterprises
were active in the construction sector (14.4 % of At the other end of the scale, there were often rela-
the total) than within industry (11.7 %). tively few enterprises operating within activities
characterised by high barriers to entry (such as,
On the basis of the activity aggregates used for the those with considerable start-up costs to reach a
sectoral chapters that follow in the remainder of minimum efficient scale of production). These in-
this publication, the highest number of enterpris- cluded capital-intensive activities such as mining
es were often found in activities that are, to some and quarrying, transport equipment manufactur-
degree, characterised as having relatively low ing, the network supply of electricity, gas and steam
barriers to entry, and large, proximity markets. or recycling and water supply; none of these sectors



Figure 1.12: Business economy overview sectors together contributed 34.0 % of the value
Number of enterprises, EU-27, 2006 (thousands) (1) added generated in the EU-27’s non-financial
0 1 000 2 000 3 000 4 000 5 000 business economy; they were business services,
wholesale trade and construction.
Business services
Comparing two output measures, namely value
Retail trade & repair
added and turnover, the most noticeable differ-
Construction
ence concerned distributive trade activities (es-
Wholesale trade pecially wholesale trade), where these activities
Accommodation & food services reported a far higher share of sales. The relatively
Real estate, renting & leasing high proportion of turnover occurring within
Transport and storage these activities is a direct consequence of the na-
Motor trades ture of these activities, whereby large volumes
Metals & metal products of products are purchased and resold, normally
Food, beverages & tobacco with a relatively small margin. For example,
Media & communications wholesale trade activities accounted for 20.6 % of
Textiles, clothing, leather & footwear
EU-27 sales in the non-financial business econo-
my in 2006, compared with a 9.2 % share of value
Furniture & other manufacturing
added. In contrast, the added value of business
Wood & paper
services (15.8 % of the non-financial business
Electrical machinery & optical equip.
economy total) was considerable higher than its
Machinery & equipment share of turnover (7.9 %).
Other non-metallic mineral prod.
Rubber & plastics
In employment terms, the importance of the rel-
atively labour-intensive construction and non-fi-
Transport equipment
nancial services sectors was relatively high (when
Research & development
compared with value added). Non-financial serv-
Fuel processing & chemicals ices accounted for 60.8 % of the EU-27’s non-
Recycling & water supply financial business economy workforce, 28.3 %
Network supply of elec., gas & steam were employed in industrial activities and the
Mining & quarrying remaining 10.9 % in the construction sector. At
(1) Includes some rounded estimates based on non-conﬁdential data. a sectoral level, none of the industrial activities
Source: Eurostat (SBS) represented more than 4 % of the employment
total; the highest share being recorded for met-
als and metal products. Among the services, the
accounted for more than 0.2 % of the total number largest workforces were found within the activi-
of enterprises active in the EU-27’s non-financial ties of business services (17.1 %) and retail trade
business economy, with fewer than 25 thousand en- and repair (13.5 %).
terprises operating in mining and quarrying activi-
Differences between the relative shares of total
ties, the network supply of electricity, gas and steam
value added and employment throw some light
or the recycling and water supply sector.
on productivity differentials between activities
The distribution of enterprises across the EU-27 (see Figure 1.13). Apparent labour productivity
economy provides little information when analys- (defined as value added divided by the number
ing the relative economic importance of the dif- of persons employed) tended to be highest among
ferent sectors. Economic weight is more generally those sectors characterised as being capital-inten-
measured in terms of value added. Non-financial sive or high-tech. The most productive activities
services contributed a 55.5 % share of the total in the EU-27 (at the sectoral level used for chapters
added value in the EU-27’s non-financial business in this publication) included real estate, renting
economy in 2006. The proportion accounted for and leasing (2005), media and communications,
by industrial activities (35.5 %) was 23.8 percent- fuel processing and chemicals manufacturing
age points higher than the corresponding share of (2005) and the network supply of electricity, gas
industry in the total number of enterprises. The and steam. In contrast, the least productive areas
construction sector accounted for the remaining of the EU-27’s non-financial business economy in
9.0 % of added value in the EU-27’s non-financial 2006 included labour-intensive activities, such as
business economy in 2006. Looking in more de- the manufacture of textiles, clothing, leather and
tail (using the aggregates defining each sectoral footwear, the construction sector, accommoda-
chapter in this publication), the three largest tion and food services, or retail trade and repair.


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2009 Eurostat European Business Facts And Figures

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