Archive:Mining and quarrying 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 presents an overview of statistics for European Union (EU) mining and quarrying, covering NACE Section C. The activities of mining and quarrying are treated in more depth in two specific articles, based on the type of product being mined:
- energy-producing materials − coal, crude petroleum, natural gas or uranium;
- non-energy-producing materials − metal ores, stone, sand, clay, salt, or a range of chemical and fertiliser minerals.
Note that this article only covers extractive activities, and not the processing of fuel, the manufacture of non-metallic mineral products, nor the network supply and distribution of electricity, gas and steam.
_Structural_profile,_EU-27,_2006.PNG)
_Structural_profile_ranking_of_top_five_Member_States,_2006.PNG)
_Share_of_value_added_and_persons_employed_by_enterprise_size_class,_EU-27,_2006_(%25).PNG)
Main statistical findings
Structural profile
There were 20.7 thousand enterprises operating with mining and quarrying (NACE Section C) as their main activity in the EU-27 in 2006. Together they employed 733.2 thousand persons, equivalent to 0.6 % of the non-financial business economy (NACE Sections C to I and K) workforce, while they generated EUR 88.5 billion of value added (1.6 %). Paid employees made up 97.9 % of all persons employed (which also includes working proprietors and unpaid family workers) within the EU-27’s mining and quarrying sector in 2006, well above the non-financial business economy average (86.5 %). Indeed, this proportion rose to 99.6 % for the mining and quarrying of energy-producing materials (which was the highest among all industrial NACE subsections), whereas it stood close to the industrial average (94.2 %) for non-energy producing materials (95.4 %).
The vast majority (88.3 %) of the EU-27’s mining and quarrying enterprises extracted non-energy producing materials (NACE Subsection CB). However, in economic terms, the relative importance of energy-producing materials (NACE Subsection CA) was far greater, accounting for 78.0 % of sectoral value added; in more detail the most important activity (in value-added terms) was the extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas (NACE Division 10), which accounted for approximately two thirds (66.9 %) of EU-27 sectoral value added.
It is perhaps therefore not surprising to find that the United Kingdom (with oil and gas fields off its east coast) recorded the highest share (39.5 %) of EU-27 value added within the mining and quarrying sector in 2006. Denmark (predominantly natural gas), Italy (crude petroleum and natural gas), Germany and Poland (both coal and lignite) were also relatively important producers within the EU in value added terms. The Polish mining and quarrying workforce of 188.6 thousand persons was equivalent to almost a quarter (24.4 %, 2005) of the EU-27 total, and was followed by Romania (17.4 %, 2005) and Germany (11.9 %).
The relative importance of the mining and quarrying sector tended to be highest among those countries specialised in the extraction of energy-producing materials: the extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas in Romania, Denmark and the United Kingdom, or the mining of coal and lignite in Poland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Romania. This is perhaps not surprising given the geological distribution of natural resources – which were scarce or non-existent in many of the remaining Member States. Bulgaria, Romania and Sweden were specialized in the extraction of metal ores, while Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece and Portugal recorded some of the highest specialisation ratios with respect to other mining and quarrying.
The enterprise size structure of the mining and quarrying sector would appear to be dominated by large enterprises; however, the overall average is a combination of two extremes. The mining and quarrying of coal and lignite and of metal ores are particularly concentrated in only a few locations and characterised by a high dominance of large enterprises (with 250 or more persons employed); the extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas is also relatively concentrated among large enterprises. Indeed, the mining of coal and lignite and the mining of metal ores were two of only four NACE divisions to report that upwards of 90 % of their EU-27 value added was generated by large enterprises (tobacco manufacturing and post and telecommunications being the others). On the other hand, the local sourcing of many construction materials and a range of chemical and fertiliser minerals are characterised by widespread availability, relatively high transport costs and low barriers to entry, reflected in a higher degree of importance for small and medium-sized enterprises (with less than 250 persons employed).
Large enterprises accounted for 64.3 % of the total value added generated within the EU-27’s mining and quarrying sector in 2006, more than 20 percentage points above the non-financial business economy average. In employment terms, the relative importance of large enterprises was even greater, accounting for 68.1 % of the mining and quarrying workforce, compared with an average of 32.6 % for the whole of the non-financial business economy. The fact that the employment share of large enterprises was larger than the value added share indicates that large enterprises had a lower apparent labour productivity than small and medium-sized enterprises (with less than 250 persons employed). This is unusual, in that large enterprises generally display a higher productivity; the situation of this sector is due principally to the particularly low labour productivity among the large enterprises in the mining and quarrying of coal and lignite subsector.
Developments in output, costs and prices
_Evolution_of_main_indicators,_EU-27_(2000%3D100).PNG)
_Employment_characteristics,_2007.PNG)
_Expenditure,_productivity_and_profitability,_EU-27,_2006.PNG)
_Investment_rate,_EU-27,_2006_(%25).PNG)
_Labour_output_and_costs,_EU-27,_2006_(EUR_thousand_per_capita).PNG)
The EU-27’s mining and quarrying sector is an industry that has been in decline for several decades. The average reduction in output during the period 1997-2007 equated to 2.2 % per year. This was entirely due to a decrease in mining and quarrying activity for energy producing materials (average decline of 3.2 % per year), as the EU-27 index of production for mining and quarrying of non-energy producing materials rose, on average, by 2.0 % per year over the period considered.
Employment losses within the EU-27’s mining and quarrying workforce between 1997 and 2007 were substantial, employment falling on average by 5.6 % per year compared with an average of 1.2 % for industrial activities (NACE Sections C to E). Although the number of persons employed fell every year between 1997 and 2007, the biggest contractions were recorded at the start of the period in 1999 and 2000, when close to 10 % of the mining and quarrying workforce was shed each year.
Domestic output prices for the EU-27’s mining and quarrying sector show that there was a rapid fall in prices in 1998 (17.6 % compared with the year before). The fluctuating nature of prices was however evident two years later, as EU-27 output prices for mining and quarrying rose by 23.5 % in 2000, followed by a period of relative calm, before prices rose again at a rapid pace between 2004 and 2006, remaining at historically high levels in 2007. The overall output price index for mining and quarrying reflected closely developments in the index for the mining and quarrying of energy producing materials, although towards the end of the time series there was also evidence of rapidly rising prices for non-energy producing materials (up 8.1 % in 2006); this latter development may be associated with increasing demand for minerals, driven by emerging economies).
Employment characteristics
EU-27 mining and quarrying activities are characterised by a relatively high reliance on full-time, male employment. According to the Labour force survey, 97.3 % of those employed in this sector worked on a full-time basis in 2007, one of the highest full-time employment rate of all structural business statistics sectors, and some 11.6 percentage points above the non-financial business economy average (85.7 %). Within the mining of coal and lignite, the full-time employment rate in the EU-27 was 99.0 %, the highest of any NACE division for which data are available, while among the remaining four NACE divisions that are included within the mining and quarrying sector, this proportion never fell lower than 94.6 %.
The EU-27's mining and quarrying workforce was predominantly composed of men (86.2 % of the total in 2007), 21.3 percentage points higher than the non-financial business economy average, and one of the highest proportions for all sectors.
In terms of its age profile, the EU-27's mining and quarrying sector is atypical. It had a considerably lower proportion of younger workers, as just 12.9 % of those employed were aged less than 30. This was almost half the average share of this age group across the whole of the non-financial business economy (24.3 %) and was also one of the lowest proportions recorded for all sectors. The relative importance of those aged 30 to 49 was, in contrast, very high – representing 63.2 % of those employed within the mining and quarrying workforce – one of the highest ratios of all sectors, and 9.5 percentage points above the non-financial business economy average. The relative importance of those aged 50 or over in the mining and quarrying workforce (23.9 % of the total) was more in line with the average for the non-financial business economy (which was 2 percentage points less). Although a more detailed analysis reveals that there was a particularly low share of those aged 50 or less working within the mining of coal and lignite sector (17.7 %) – the third lowest share among NACE divisions – behind, only the manufacturing and service activities related to computers.
Expenditure, productivity and profitability
The mining and quarrying sector is generally characterised as a capital-intensive activity performed by large enterprises. This is particularly the case for projects that require exploration and test drilling, in advance of the considerable investment required to establish a new mine or off-shore drilling facility. Opencast (or surface) mines are generally cheaper than deep mines – although they may be rejected in the planning stage due to their effect on local landscapes. All forms of mining and quarrying incur environmental costs, which may relate to the disposal of waste, increased pollution, potential for ground subsidence, or changes to the local supply and quality of water.
The level of tangible investment made by the mining and quarrying sector in 2006 reached EUR 21.1 billion in the EU-27, equivalent to 2.0 % of all tangible investment made in the non-financial business economy. The investment rate shows the ratio between investment and value added: in 2006 this was 23.8 % for the EU-27's mining and quarrying sector, approximately 30 % above the non-financial business economy average (18.4 %).
As regards operating expenditure, the share of personnel costs was relatively low in the EU-27’s mining and quarrying sector, at 13.3 % in 2006 (compared with a non-financial business economy average of 16.1 %). This was particularly the case for the extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas, where personnel costs accounted for 5.8 % of total operating expenditure in 2006 – the second lowest figure among all NACE divisions in the non-financial business economy, behind the related downstream manufacturing activity of coke, refined petroleum products and nuclear fuel. In contrast, the mining and quarrying of non-energy producing materials was more labour-intensive.
The apparent labour productivity of the EU-27's mining and quarrying sector in 2006 was EUR 120.8 thousand per person employed. This was almost four times as high as the non-financial business economy average of EUR 43.5 thousand per person employed and was one of the highest levels of productivity for all structural business statistics sectors. The aggregate figure for the whole of the mining and quarrying sector was skewed by very high productivity levels for the extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas (EUR 370.0 thousand per person employed in 2005), while labour productivity for the mining of metal ores (EUR 109.7 thousand per person employed in 2006) was also considerably above the non-financial business economy average.
Average personnel costs within the EU-27’s mining and quarrying sector were EUR 31.3 thousand per employee in 2006, somewhat higher than the non-financial business economy average of EUR 28.8 thousand, but 7.1 % lower than the average for all industrial activities. Personnel costs per employee peaked at an estimated EUR 40.0 thousand per employee for the extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas in 2005, while the remaining three activities for which data are available (at the level of NACE divisions covered within the articles on mining and quarrying (no information available for the mining of uranium and thorium ores) all reported average personnel costs close to the non-financial business economy average.
The wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio combines the two previous ratios, and shows the extent to which value added per person employed covers average personnel costs per employee. In the EU-27's mining and quarrying sector in 2006, this ratio was 386.3 %, one of the highest for all sectors. Of the five NACE divisions that make up the mining and quarrying sector, this ratio peaked at an estimated 900 % for the extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas in 2005, while value added covered personnel costs by more than four times for the mining of metal ores in 2006. The mining of coal and lignite was the only activity to record a wage adjusted labour productivity ratio (115.0 % in 2005) that was below the EU-27 average for the whole of the non-financial business economy (again no information available for the mining of uranium and thorium ores).
The gross operating rate (the relation between the gross operating surplus and turnover) is one measure of profitability; it stood at 28.1 % for the EU-27’s mining and quarrying sector in 2006, more than twice non-financial business economy average (10.8 %) – and one of the highest levels of profitability (using this measure) among any of the structural business statistics sectors. Profitability was particularly high for the mining of metal ores (48.9 %), which recorded the highest gross operating rate among all of the NACE divisions within the non-financial business economy, while the rate for the extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas was third highest (31.2 %).
External trade
_External_trade,_EU-27,.PNG)
_Main_trading_partners,_EU-27,_2007_(%25_share_of_exports_and_imports_in_value_terms).PNG)
_Main_indicators,_2006.PNG)
With a lack of natural resources (and therefore output), it is not surprising to find the EU-27 exports a relatively small amount of mining and quarrying products (CPA Section C). In 2007, these goods accounted for 1.7 % of total industrial (CPA Sections C to E) exports, of which the majority (62.1 %) were other mining and quarrying products (CPA Division 14).
The EU is highly dependent on non-member countries for its supplies of mining and quarrying products, and imports of these products accounted for 22.1 % of all industrial (CPA Sections C to E) imports in 2007, when a trade deficit of EUR 273.8 billion was recorded. The overwhelming majority (83.6 %) of the EU-27’s imports of mining and quarrying were of crude petroleum and natural gas (CPA Division 11).
The increasing reliance on imports continued a long-established trend, and the EU-27 trade deficit for mining and quarrying products more than doubled in the five years from 2002 to 2007. To put this deficit into perspective, it is several times higher than most of the other structural business statistics sectors. The reliance on external providers is also confirmed by analyzing the ratio of intra-EU to extra-EU imports for the 27 Member States, which stood at 23.7 % for mining and quarrying products in 2007 – one of the only sectors where imports from non-member countries exceeded imports from other Member States.
Russia was the main origin of EU-27 mining and quarrying imports in 2007, accounting for almost one quarter (24.3 %) of the total – a share that was almost twice that recorded for the second largest supplier, Norway (12.8 %). The remaining countries that supplied mining and quarrying products to the EU-27 were largely dominated by oil-producing countries, such as Libya, Saudi Arabia or Iran, while Brazil, South Africa, Chile, Canada, Australia and Russia were among the most important suppliers of non-energy producing products.
In terms of world trade, Denmark was the only Member State where exports of mining and quarrying products were valued higher than imports, with a cover ratio of 345.2 % in 2007; the next highest ratio being recorded for the United Kingdom (82.0 %). The United Kingdom posted the highest level of mining and quarrying exports in 2007 (EUR 26.1 billion), which equated to 36.3 % of the total exports made by the 27 Member States. Note that the relatively high external trade figures for Belgium and the Netherlands reflect the role played by main sea ports in these countries (in particular, the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) region), where bunker facilities allow the temporary storage of mining and quarrying products before they are distributed across mainland Europe.
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.
Other data sources include short-term statistics, the Labour force survey and Eurostat’s COMEXT database for external trade.
Context
The global mining and quarrying sector is characterised by a relatively small number of international enterprise groups, that operate across the continents – sometimes with only their head office in the EU or another developed economy. These large-scale producers are complemented by a large number of smaller enterprises, typically serving a local market in low-value, widely-available products, often for use in construction. The location of mining and quarrying activity generally reflects the spatial distribution of mineral deposits. However, there can be considerable cost differences between mines, for example, in relation to the depth at which deposits are found, or whether they are on land or at sea. Aside from geographical and geological cost differences, the decision of whether or not to (re-)open a mine may also depend, among others, on global, commodity prices, as well as regulations concerning the environmental impact of mining or the disposal of its waste.
The EU aims to become a low-carbon, energy-efficient economy in the coming years. The integrated energy and climate change policy laid out in December 2008 aims to cut greenhouse gases by 20 %, reduce energy consumption by 20 % through increased energy efficiency and to meet 20 % of the EU's energy needs from renewable sources by 2020 – these goals will have implications on the way extractive activities operate.
Another important aspect in relation to this sector concerns the security of supply for downstream activities. Aside from well-publicised geopolitical disputes which have threatened the supply of crude petroleum or natural gas to European markets, there are also a large number of non-energy-related minerals, which are often essential for downstream manufacturing activities. There is no indigenous supply for many of these, with the extraction of construction materials being one of the few areas where the EU is largely self-sufficient.
Further Eurostat information
Publications
Main tables
Database
- SBS - industry and construction (sbs_ind_co)
- Annual detailed enterprise statistics - industry and construction (sbs_na_ind)
- Annual detailed enterprise statistics on mining and quarrying (NACE Rev.1.1 C) (sbs_na_2a_mi)
- Annual detailed enterprise statistics - industry and construction (sbs_na_ind)