Archive:General purpose machinery production statistics - NACE Rev. 1.1
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- Data from January 2009. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.
This article belongs to a set of statistical articles which analyse the structure, development and characteristics of the various economic activities in the European Union (EU). According to the statistical classification of economic activities in the EU (NACE Rev 1.1), the present article covers the production of general purpose machinery, corresponding to NACE Groups 29.1 and 29.2, which are part of the machinery and equipment sector. The activities covered in this article are:
- Power machinery, which comprises machinery for the production and use of mechanical power (NACE Group 29.1). This includes internal combustion engines, as well as steam, gas, wind and hydraulic turbines, pumps, compressors, taps, valves, bearings and transmission equipment, but excludes the manufacture of propulsion engines for aircraft, vehicles or cycles.
- Other general purpose machinery (NACE Group 29.2), which includes furnaces and burners, lifting and handling equipment and non-domestic cooling and ventilation equipment.
_Structural_profile,_EU-27,_2006_(1).PNG)
Main statistical findings
Structural profile
_Structural_profile-_ranking_of_top_five_Member_States_in_terms_of_value_added_and_persons_employed,_2006.PNG)
_Expenditure,_productivity_and_profitability,_EU-27,_2006_(1).PNG)
General purpose machinery manufacturing (NACE Groups 29.1 and 29.2) was the principal activity of 81.3 thousand enterprises throughout the EU-27 in 2006, providing employment for almost 1.8 million persons (about one half of the EU-27’s machinery and equipment workforce). These enterprises generated EUR 100.5 billion of value added in 2006 from a turnover of EUR 314.7 billion. A majority (57.0 %) of the value added within this sector came from the other general purpose machinery subsector (NACE Group 29.2), the remainder (43.0 %) coming from the manufacture of power machinery subsector (NACE Group 29.1). Among the eight NACE classes that comprise the general purpose machinery sector, the manufacture of lifting and handling equipment was the largest in terms of value added, contributing a little over one fifth (20.4 %) of sectoral value added. This was closely followed by the manufacture of other general purpose machinery not elsewhere classified (NACE Class 29.24) – including the manufacture of gas generators, oil filters and weighing machinery – which contributed just under one fifth (19.7 %) of sectoral value added.
The general purpose machinery sectors in Germany and Italy together contributed more than half (52.2 %) of the EU-27’s value added generated in 2006. Germany had by far the highest level of activity, however, with EUR 35.9 billion of value added generated in 2006, which was more than double the EUR 16.6 billion recorded for Italy. These two countries were the most specialised Member States in the manufacture of general purpose machinery, as the relative contributions of this sector to non-financial business economy value added stood at 3.1 % for Germany and 2.6 % for Italy, well above the EU-27 average (1.8 %).
Annual short-term statistics show that the staggered growth in both the production indices for the manufacture of power machinery (NACE Group 29.1) and other general purpose machinery (NACE Group 29.2) followed a similar pattern, although slightly more pronounced, than the index of production for machinery and equipment manufacturing (NACE Subsection DK) as a whole during the ten-year period between 1997 and 2007. The growth in EU-27 output of power machinery was particularly strong from 2003 onwards, raising the average rate of growth over the ten years considered to 3.2 % per year. In contrast, the strongest growth in output for other general purpose machinery was recorded in the period between 1997 and 2000, which lifted its average rate of growth over the ten years through to 2007 to 3.0 % per year. As such, both rates were above the average (2.6 % per year) recorded for the whole of machinery and equipment manufacturing.
Expenditure and productivity
A majority (58.1 %) of the tangible investment made in the EU-27’s machinery and equipment manufacturing (NACE Subsection DK) activities in 2006 could be attributed to general purpose machinery manufacturing (NACE Groups 29.1 and 29.2). In comparison to the value added generated by the sector, tangible investment of EUR 8.9 billion corresponded to an investment rate of 9.7 %, which although relatively low in comparison with the non-financial business economy was a little higher than the average (9.0 %) for the whole of machinery and equipment manufacturing.
The structure of operating expenditure in the EU-27’s general purpose machinery sector was very similar to that across machinery and equipment manufacturing as a whole, with 23.8 % of the total being accounted for by personnel costs in 2006. Average personnel costs of EUR 40.8 thousand per employee were recorded in the EU-27 for general purpose machinery manufacturing which was about EUR 12.0 thousand per employee higher than the average for the EU-27’s non-financial business economy.
The apparent labour productivity of each person employed within the EU-27’s general purpose machinery manufacturing sector averaged EUR 56.1 thousand of value added in 2006. However, the resulting wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio of 137.6 % was roughly equal to the machinery and equipment manufacturing average (135.8 %) and was relatively low in terms of a comparison with the non-financial business economy average (151.1 %). This characteristic was common for the majority of Member States, with exceptions limited to Belgium, Greece, France, Italy and Austria, where the wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio for the general purpose machinery sector was higher than the non-financial business economy average.
Data sources and availability
The main part of the analysis in this article is derived from structural business statistics (SBS), including core, business statistics which are disseminated regularly, as well as information compiled on a multi-yearly basis, and the latest results from development projects.
Context
Technological advancements in the machinery and equipment that is used in other sectors of the economy (particularly in mining, manufacturing, energy provision and construction) can have a considerable impact upon the speed, quality and quantity of what is produced, thereby impacting on downstream productivity and profitability. The machinery and equipment sector is sensitive, therefore, to overall economic conditions and investment patterns both within the European Union and across the world (the two arguably being more intertwined than ever).