Archive:Dairy statistics - NACE Rev. 1.1
This Statistics Explained article is outdated and has been archived - for recent articles on structural business statistics see here.
- 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). The present article covers dairy products, corresponding to NACE Rev 1.1 Group 15.5, which is part of the food, beverages and tobacco (NACE Rev. 1.1) sector. Dairy products consist of:
- fresh milk;
- cream;
- butter;
- yoghurt;
- cheese;
- whey;
- ice creams;
- sorbets.
It should be noted that this article excludes the agricultural activities of growing, farming, rearing and hunting and also fishing (NACE Divisions 01 and 05). A number of products, such as eggs or cheese are also sold directly by agricultural holdings. As such, their weight is likely to be under-reported in this article, as part of their production is recorded as an agricultural activity.
_Index_of_production,_EU-27_(2000%3D100).PNG)
Main statistical findings
Structural profile
_Structural_profile_-_ranking_of_top_five_Member_States_in_terms_of_value_added_and_persons_employed,_2006.PNG)
There were about 13.0 thousand enterprises across the EU-27 whose main activity was the manufacture of dairy products (NACE Group 15.5) in 2006. These enterprises employed an estimated 400.0 thousand persons, representing 8.5 % of the food, beverages and tobacco manufacturing sector’s workforce (NACE Subsection DA). The overwhelming majority of these workers (83.9 %) were engaged in the operation of dairies and cheese making (NACE Class 15.51). The dairy products manufacturing sector generated EUR 17.7 billion of value added in 2005, equivalent to 8.9 % of the value added generated by food, beverages and tobacco manufacturing activities in 2005.
The largest dairy products manufacturing sectors in terms of value added generated in 2006 were found in France (EUR 3.2 billion), Germany (EUR 2.6 billion) and Italy (EUR 2.5 billion); together these three Member States contributed just under half (48.1 %) of the EU-27’s value added. The dairy products manufacturing sectors of the United Kingdom and Spain were also relatively large; they accounted for a combined 18.4 % of EU-27 output in 2005.
On average, the dairy products manufacturing sector contributed 0.3 % to total value added within the EU-27’s non-financial business economy in 2005. In these relative terms, Germany and the United Kingdom were among the least specialised Member States. In contrast, Lithuania was by far the most specialised country, as the manufacture of dairy products provided 1.4 % of the added value that was generated within the non-financial business economy in 2006.
In the ten years through until 2007, there was an upward trend in the output of dairy products manufacturing across the EU-27, albeit with a couple of relatively small downturns in 2002 and 2004. Overall, the average rate of increase for production over the period considered was 1.0 % per year. The EU-27 index of production for dairy products rose by 2.5 % in 2007, hence, well above the trend observed during the previous decade. Output grew at a somewhat faster rate than the EU-27 average in the three largest dairy producing countries (France, Germany and Italy) during the ten-year period through to 2007. The strongest rates of growth, however, were recorded for Poland (on average rising by 4.5 % per year) and Latvia (3.0 % per year).
Costs, productivity and profitability
Personnel costs in the EU-27’s dairy products manufacturing sector accounted for a lower proportion of operating expenditure (9.9 % in 2005) than across the food, beverages and tobacco manufacturing sector (13.8 %). Nevertheless, average personnel costs stood at EUR 30.0 thousand per employee, which was about 15 % higher than the food, beverages and tobacco manufacturing average in 2005.
Each person employed within the EU-27’s dairy products manufacturing sector generated an average of EUR 44.3 thousand of value added in 2005 – above the average for food, beverages and tobacco manufacturing. However, with average personnel costs also being higher, the resulting wage adjusted labour productivity ratio was, at 150.0 % in 2005, lower than the average for the whole of the food, beverages and tobacco manufacturing sector 163.0 %.
In most of the Member States, the wage adjusted labour productivity ratio for the dairy products manufacturing sector was relatively low. Indeed, in Poland and Slovenia it stood at about half the average recorded for food, beverages and tobacco manufacturing, while in Ireland it was about a third lower, and in the Netherlands and Slovakia about a quarter less. There were a few Member States, however, where the wage adjusted labour productivity ratio of the dairy products manufacturing sector was higher; principally, in Portugal (about 25 % above the food, beverages and tobacco manufacturing average), Spain, Germany, Greece and Bulgaria (all 10-15 % higher).
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 (STS), the Labour force survey (LFS), the COMEXT database for external trade and the Confederation of Food and Drink Industries (CIAA).
Context
The food, beverages and tobacco manufacturing sector in the EU is comprised of a relatively small number of enterprises that have a considerable global market presence, which operate alongside a high number of relatively small enterprises that serve more local, regional and national markets.
As these enterprises not only produce goods for final consumption but also intermediate products for other manufacturing activities, they are affected by a broad scope of legislation. The main legislative areas affecting the EU’s food, beverages and tobacco manufacturing sector, however, tend to involve international trade agreements, or food and feed legislation. As a majority of the EU’s agricultural production is processed by the food, beverages and tobacco manufacturing sector, developments in Common Agricultural Policy and associated Common Market Organisations can have important implications for costs and processes in the food chain. Regarding food legislation, the European Parliament and the Council proposed an update of the laws regarding the provision of information to consumers (COM(2008) 40 final) in 2008, in order to clarify and consolidate existing regulations. In part, this proposal was built on a 2007 White Paper covering a Strategy for Europe on Nutrition, Overweight and Obesity (COM(2007) 279 final), which stressed the need for consumers to have access to clear, consistent and evidence-based nutritional information.
To meet growing demand for milk and milk products within the EU and across global markets, the European Commission’s proposal (COM(2007) 802 final) for a 2 % increase in milk quotas (a total of 2.84 million tonnes) beginning on 1 April 2008 was approved by agricultural ministers. The wider Health Check of the Common Agricultural Policy that was adopted in January 2009 formally schedules an end to milk quotas in the EU by 2015; it was proposed that a 'soft landing' be ensured by increasing quotas by 1 % every year between 2009/10 and 2013/14. In a further underpinning of demand, a new version of the European School Milk scheme was adopted in July 2008, laying down detailed rules regarding Community aid for supplying milk and certain milk products to pupils in educational establishments.
Further Eurostat information
Publications
Main tables
Database
Dedicated section
Other information
- COM(2007) 279 final - A Strategy for Europe on Nutrition, Overweight and Obesity related health issues
- Proposal for a regulation (COM(2007) 802 final) amending Regulation 1234/2007 establishing a common organisation of agricultural markets and on specific provisions for certain agricultural products (single CMO Regulation) as regards the national quotas for milk
- Proposal for a Regulation (COM(2008) 40 final) on the provision of food information to consumers
- Regulation 657/2008 of 10 July 2008 laying down detailed rules for applying Regulation 1234/2007 as regards Community aid for supplying milk and certain milk products to pupils in educational establishments
- Regulation 72/2009 of 19 January 2009 on modifications to the Common Agricultural Policy