Statistics Explained

Archive:Food and beverage services statistics - NACE Rev. 2

Data extracted in October 2015. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.

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This article presents an overview of statistics for the food and beverage services sector in the European Union (EU), as covered by NACE Rev. 2 Division 56.

Table 1: Key indicators, food and beverage service activities (NACE Division 56), EU-28, 2012 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Figure 1: Sectoral analysis of food and beverage service activities (NACE Division 56), EU-28, 2012 (¹)
(% share of sectoral total) - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 2a: Sectoral analysis of key indicators, food and beverage service activities (NACE Division 56), EU-28, 2012 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 2b: Sectoral analysis of key indicators, food and beverage service activities (NACE Division 56), EU-28, 2012 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 3: Largest and most specialised Member States in food and beverage service activities (NACE Division 56), EU-28, 2012 (¹) - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 4a: Key indicators, food and beverage service activities (NACE Division 56), 2012 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 4b: Key indicators, food and beverage service activities (NACE Division 56), 2012 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 5: Key size class indicators, food and beverage service activities (NACE Division 56), EU-28, 2012 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_1b_se_r2)
Figure 2: Relative importance of enterprise size classes, food and beverage service activities (NACE Division 56), EU-28, 2012 (¹)
(% share of sectoral total) - Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_1b_se_r2)
Table 6a: Employment by enterprise size class, food and beverage service activities (NACE Division 56), 2012 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_1b_se_r2)
Table 6b: Value added by enterprise size class, food and beverage service activities (NACE Division 56), 2012 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_1b_se_r2)

Main statistical findings

Structural profile

There were about 1.5 million enterprises that reported having food and beverage services (Division 56) as their principal activity in the EU-28 in 2012. They employed 8.0 million persons, equivalent to 6.0 % of the total number of persons employed in the non-financial business economy (Sections B to J and L to N and Division 95) and just over three quarters (76.8 %) of those employed within accommodation and food services (Section I). The food and beverage services sector generated EUR 143.2 billion of value added which was equivalent to 2.3 % of the non-financial business economy total or two thirds (67.1 %) of the accommodation and food services total.

With a higher share of the non-financial business economy workforce than of its value added in 2012, the apparent labour productivity of the EU-28’s food and beverage services sector in 2012 was, at EUR 18.0 thousand per person employed, considerably below the non-financial business economy average of EUR 46.2 thousand per person employed and also below the EUR 20.0 thousand per person employed average for accommodation and food services. Indeed, this was the lowest level of apparent labour productivity among any of the NACE divisions that compose the non-financial business economy. Note that this indicator is based on a head count of employment and that there is a relatively high propensity to employ persons on a part-time basis within the food and beverage services sector — as such, a simple count of employment is likely to over-state labour input, resulting in a comparatively low apparent labour productivity ratio.

Average personnel costs within the EU-28’s food and beverage services sector were also very low when compared with other activities: EUR 15.6 thousand per employee for the EU-28’s food and beverage services sector in 2012 compared with an average of EUR 32.4 thousand per employee for the whole of the non-financial business economy. As such, food and beverage services recorded the second lowest level of average personnel costs per employee across those NACE divisions that constitute the non-financial business economy, higher only than wearing apparel manufacturing (Division 14).

The wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio combines the two previous indicators and shows the extent to which value added per person employed covers average personnel costs per employee. Given that this indicator is based on expenditure rather than a headcount of labour input, it is more relevant for comparisons across activities or countries where there are different incidences of part-time employment or self-employment. Nevertheless, the EU-28’s food and beverage services sector reported a relatively low wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio of 115.0 % in 2012, compared with the non-financial business economy average of 142.7 %. Indeed, this was the tenth lowest value for the wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio across the NACE divisions that compose the non-financial business economy.

The gross operating rate shows the relationship between the gross operating surplus and turnover. The gross operating rate for the EU-28’s food and beverage services sector in 2012 was 11.8 %, which was slightly higher than the non-financial business economy average (9.4 %).

Sectoral analysis

More than half (56.8 %) of all the enterprises within the EU-28’s food and beverage services sector were classified as belonging to the restaurants and mobile food services (Group 56.1) subsector. Beverage serving activities (Group 56.3) accounted for the vast majority of the remaining enterprises (38.4 %), while the event catering and other food services (Group 56.2) subsector accounted for less than 5.0 % of the enterprises in the food and beverage services sector.

In output terms, the relative importance of restaurants and mobile food services was even greater, accounting for 62.4 % of sectoral value added in the EU-28, around 2.8 times as high as the share for beverage serving activities (22.1 %), while the share for event catering and other food services was 15.5 %. The distribution of employment between the three different subsectors showed that restaurants and mobile food services accounted for 61.6 % of the sectoral workforce, while 25.2 % of the workforce was engaged within beverage serving activities, and some 13.1 % within event catering and other food services.

The low apparent labour productivity for the whole of the EU-28’s food and beverage services sector was pulled downwards, in particular, by beverage serving activities, where apparent labour productivity was EUR 16.0 thousand per person employed in 2012. This low level of apparent labour productivity was just above one third of the non-financial business economy average (EUR 46.2 thousand per person employed) and resulted in beverage serving activities recording the second lowest level of productivity (using this measure) across any of the NACE groups that compose the non-financial business economy, higher only than for retail sale via stalls and markets (Group 47.8).

Average personnel costs per employee stood at EUR 19.7 thousand per employee for the EU-28’s event catering and other food service activities subsector in 2012, EUR 15.4 thousand per employee for restaurants and mobile food service activities and EUR 13.1 thousand per employee for beverage serving activities. As such, beverage serving activities recorded the lowest level of average personnel costs among any of the NACE groups in the non-financial business economy. All three food and beverage services subsectors were ranked within the bottom 20 NACE groups, as restaurants and mobile food service activities occupied the third lowest position and event catering and other food service activities the sixteenth lowest position.

The food and beverage services sector reported a relatively low wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio in 2012 and this was repeated across each of the three subsectors. Furthermore, the individual ratios were within a relatively narrow range, from 107.0 % for the EU-28’s event catering and other food service activities to 120.0 % for beverage serving activities. All three ratios were considerably below the average wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio for the non-financial business economy (142.7 %).

For the gross operating rate, there were two food and beverage services subsectors that reported rates above the EU-28 non-financial business economy average (9.4 %) in 2012. This was the case for beverage serving activities (15.8 %) and for restaurants and mobile food service activities (11.9 %), while the gross operating rate for event catering and other food service activities (5.2 %) was only slightly above half of the non-financial business economy average.

Country analysis

The United Kingdom had the highest level of value added among the EU Member States for the food and beverage services sector in 2012, accounting for a 21.5 % share of the EU-28 total. France (17.5 %), Germany (14.7 %), Italy (12.6 %) and Spain (11.1 %) all reported double-digit shares of EU-28 value added, while the next highest share was recorded by the Netherlands (4.4 %). These five Member States collectively contributed 77.4 % of the EU-28’s value added in the food and beverage services sector, 6.4 percentage points more than their share within the non-financial business economy as a whole. In employment terms, this unusually high concentration in the largest EU Member States was even more visible as 72.1 % of the food and beverage services workforce were employed in these five Member States compared with a 63.8 % share for the whole of the non-financial business economy.

The relatively high share of EU-28 value added for the United Kingdom in the food and beverage services sector could be attributed to beverage serving activities and event catering and other food service activities subsectors, where the United Kingdom had the highest shares of EU-28 value added (31.4 % and 24.4 %, respectively) in 2012. France recorded the highest share of EU-28 value added within the beverage serving activities subsector, over one fifth (21.4 %) of the EU-28’s added value.

In terms of relative specialisation, the food and beverage services sector accounted for as much as 6.5 % of national non-financial business economy value added in Cyprus in 2012, this was 2.8 times as high as the EU-28 average. At the other end of the range, the food and beverage services sector accounted for 0.7 % of non-financial business economy added value in Poland and Romania; in Hungary and Lithuania its share was around 1.0 %. Within beverage serving activities, the highest degrees of specialisation were recorded in Spain, Cyprus, Portugal and the United Kingdom, where the contribution to non-financial business economy was at least twice as high as the EU-28 average.

Most EU Member States reported low wage-adjusted labour productivity ratios for food and beverage services in 2012, with the highest ratio being registered for Slovakia (193.5 %). There were six Member States that recorded ratios below 100 %, namely Portugal, Croatia, Italy, Spain, Hungary and Greece, where the lowest ratio was recorded (48.4 %) — as such, apparent labour productivity in these countries did not cover average personnel costs. The wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio for the food and beverage services sector was lower than the non-financial business economy average in every EU Member State in 2012, except for Slovakia and Cyprus.

Size class analysis

In comparison with the non-financial business economy as a whole, the food and beverage services sector reported a relatively important role for micro enterprises (employing fewer than 10 persons). There were 1.4 million micro enterprises active within the EU-28’s food and beverage services sector in 2012. Together they generated EUR 59.3 billion of added value and employed 3.8 million persons. As such, they accounted for a 41.4 % share of value added within the EU-28’s food and beverage services sector and a 47.4 % share of employment: the equivalent shares for the non-financial business economy as a whole were 21.0 % and 29.2 % respectively. Small enterprises (employing 10 to 49 persons) also made a substantial contribution to the food and beverage services sector, employing 27.6 % of the workforce and providing 25.7 % of total value added, 6.9 and 7.5 percentage points higher than the equivalent non-financial business economy averages for small enterprises.

Micro enterprises provided more than 25.0 % of the food and beverage services workforce in all EU Member States (with data available) except for the United Kingdom. The employment share of micro enterprises peaked at 84.5 % for Greece. The workforce share of small enterprises peaked at 42.1 % in Lithuania and exceeded one third in another six Member States. Medium-sized enterprises (employing 50 to 249 persons) employed less than one tenth of the food and beverage services sector’s workforce in around half of the Member States and the employment share of this size class peaked at 33.1 % in Malta. As for the accommodation services sector, the United Kingdom stood out in the food and beverage services sector, with large enterprises employing 40.5 % of the sectoral workforce, around 2.5 times the EU-28 average (16.4 %) and nearly double the 21.2 % share recorded for Finland, which was the only other Member State (with data available) where the share exceeded one fifth.

Data sources and availability

The analysis presented in this article is based on the main dataset for structural business statistics (SBS) and size class data, all of which are published annually.

The main series provides information for each EU Member State as well as a number of non-member countries at a detailed level according to the activity classification NACE. Data are available for a wide range of variables.

In structural business statistics, size classes are generally defined by the number of persons employed. A limited set of the standard structural business statistics variables (for example, the number of enterprises, turnover, persons employed and value added) are analysed by size class, mostly down to the three-digit (group) level of NACE. The main size classes used in this article for presenting the results are:

  • small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): with 1 to 249 persons employed, further divided into;
    • micro enterprises: with less than 10 persons employed;
    • small enterprises: with 10 to 49 persons employed;
    • medium-sized enterprises: with 50 to 249 persons employed;
  • large enterprises: with 250 or more persons employed.

Context

This article presents an overview of statistics for the food and beverage services sector in the EU, as covered by NACE Rev. 2 Division 56. This division includes food and beverage serving activities providing complete meals or drinks fit for immediate consumption, whether in traditional restaurants, self-service establishments, or take-away restaurants, whether as permanent or temporary stands, with or without seating. The most important factor used to determine whether an enterprise should be classified under this heading is that meals that are produced are fit for immediate consumption, rather than any selection being made upon the basis of the kind of facility producing them.

Restaurants and mobile food service activities include restaurants, cafeterias, fast-food restaurants, food delivery services (such as pizza), take-out eating places, ice cream van vendors, mobile food carts, food preparation in market stalls, restaurant and bar activities connected to transportation (for example, on boats or trains), when carried out separately from the provision of transport services.

Event catering activities include the provision of food services based on contractual arrangements with the customer, at the location specified by the customer, for a specific event. Other food services include industrial catering, in other words the provision of food services based on contractual arrangements with the customer, for a specific period of time; examples are the operation of canteens or cafeterias in factories, offices, hospitals or schools, as well as the operation of food concessions at sports and similar facilities.

Beverage serving activities include preparing and serving beverages for immediate consumption on the premises. Included are bars, taverns, cocktail lounges, coffee shops, fruit juice bars, mobile beverage vendors.

This NACE division is composed of three groups:

  • restaurants and mobile food service activities (Group 56.1);
  • event catering and other food service activities (Group 56.2);
  • beverage serving activities (Group 56.3).

The information presented in this article excludes the production of meals not fit for immediate consumption or not planned to be consumed immediately, as well as prepared food which is not considered to be a meal (these activities are covered within Divisions 10 and 11, and are included within the NACE as part of the manufacture of food products and the manufacture of beverages). The sale of not self-manufactured food which is not considered to be a meal, as well as the sale of meals which are not fit for immediate consumption are also excluded from the statistics that are presented in this article. These activities are classified as part of the reselling of packaged/prepared beverages and the retail sale of food or beverages through vending machines: these are classified to Divisions 46 and 47 (wholesale and retail trade).

See also

Further Eurostat information

Publications

Main tables

Database

SBS – services (sbs_serv)
Annual detailed enterprise statistics - services (sbs_na_serv)
Annual detailed enterprise statistics for services (NACE Rev. 2 H-N and S95) (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
SMEs - Annual enterprise statistics by size class - services (sbs_sc_sc)
Services by employment size class (NACE Rev. 2 H-N and S95) (sbs_sc_1b_se_r2)
SBS - regional data - all activities (sbs_r)
SBS data by NUTS 2 regions and NACE Rev. 2 (from 2008 onwards) (sbs_r_nuts06_r2)

Dedicated section

Source data for tables and figures (MS Excel)

Other information

External links

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