Statistics Explained

Archive:Furniture, jewelry, musical instruments, sports goods, toy 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 introduces a set of statistical articles which analyse the structure, development and characteristics of the economic activities in the for a number of unrelated manufacturing activities in the European Union (EU). According to the statistical classification of economic activities in the EU (NACE Rev 1.1), this sector covers NACE Division 36, and is treated in more depth in two further articles:

Manufacture of furniture; manufacturing n.e.c. (NACE Division 36). Structural profile, EU-27, 2006 (1)
Table 2: Manufacture of furniture; manufacturing n.e.c. (NACE Division 36). Structural profile: ranking of top five Member States, 2006
Map 1: Manufacture of furniture; manufacturing n.e.c. (NACE Division 36). Persons employed in the manufacture of furniture; manufacturing n.e.c. (NACE Division 36) as a proportion of those employed in the non-financial business economy (NACE Sections C to I and K), 2006
Figure 1: Manufacture of furniture; manufacturing n.e.c. (NACE Division 36). Evolution of main indicators, EU-27 (2000=100).
Figure 2: Manufacture of furniture; manufacturing n.e.c. (NACE Division 36). Share of employment by enterprise size class, EU-27, 2006
Figure 3: Manufacture of furniture; manufacturing n.e.c. (NACE Division 36). Employment characteristics, 2007
Table 3: Manufacture of furniture; manufacturing n.e.c. (NACE Division 36). Expenditure, productivity and profitability, EU-27, 2006 (1)
Table 4: Furniture; other manufactured goods n.e.c. (CPA Division 36). External trade, EU-27, 2007
Figure 4: Furniture; other manufactured goods n.e.c. (CPA Division 36). Main trading partners, EU-27, 2007 (% share of exports-imports in value terms)
Table 5: Manufacture of furniture; manufacturing n.e.c. (NACE Division 36). Main indicators, 2006 (1)

Main statistical findings

Structural profile

The furniture and other manufacturing sector (NACE Division 36) comprised 235.2 thousand enterprises in the EU-27 in 2006. These enterprises generated EUR 53.4 billion of value added and employed 1.8 million persons. These figures equate to a 0.9 % share of non-financial business economy (NACE Sections C to I and K) value added and a 1.4 % share of the workforce. The furniture and other manufacturing activities sector had the second smallest level of value added among the industrial structural business statistics sectors.

The furniture subsector (NACE Group 36.1) accounted for over two thirds (71.2 %) of the value added generated in the EU-27 in this sector in 2006 and closer to three quarters (74.8 %) of employment. Among the other activities (see jewellery, musical instruments, sports goods, toys and other manufacturing) the largest in employment terms were miscellaneous manufacturing (NACE Group 36.6) with 231 1 thousand persons employed and jewellery manufacture (NACE Group 36.2) with 115.4 thousand persons employed.

Germany generated the largest share of EU-27 value added in this sector in 2006, slightly more than the Italian share. In employment terms this situation was reversed, with more than one quarter of a million persons employed in the Italian furniture and other manufacturing sector. Poland also recorded a large workforce in this sector, the third largest in the EU-27. Many of the Member States that joined the EU in 2004 or 2007 were relatively specialised in these activities, mainly due to a specialisation in one or two particular subsectors, as were Italy and to a lesser extent Austria and Demark.

The specialisation in the furniture and other manufacturing sector in some regions within these countries (in some cases the whole country is treated as one region) can clearly be seen from the map which is based on the non-financial business economy employment share of this sector. Many of the most specialised regions were in Italy, Poland and Romania. The Czech Republic, Spain, Slovakia and Sweden also had several regions specialised in these activities in employment terms, while the Baltic Member States and Slovenia (each treated as one region in the map) were also among the most specialised regions.

The EU-27’s index of production for furniture and other manufacturing activities rose on average by 0.8 % per year during the period 1997 to 2007, compared with an industrial (NACE Sections C to E) average of 2.1 %. Only once in the ten years between 1997 and 2007 did the furniture and other manufacturing activities record year on year growth above the industrial average, and that was back in 1998. After peaking in 2000, output from furniture and other manufacturing activities declined for three years. Output grew each year thereafter, averaging 1.6 % per year between 2003 and 2007.

EU-27 employment in furniture and other manufacturing activities declined relatively gently between 1997 and 2007, falling an average of 0.8 % per year compared to an industrial average rate of change of -1.2 %. Nevertheless, in 2005 and 2006 employment fell more quickly in furniture and other manufacturing activities than in industry as a whole, and employment was stable in 2007 in furniture and other manufacturing compared with growth in industry as a whole.

The EU-27’s furniture and other manufacturing activities were particularly concentrated in medium-sized enterprises (with between 50 and 249 persons employed), as they accounted for 27.9 % of the sector's value added and 25.5 % of the workforce in 2006. Small enterprises (with between 10 and 49 persons employed) were also relatively more important, also contributing more than one quarter of the sector's value added and workforce.

Employment characteristics

The EU-27's furniture and other manufacturing activities employed a relatively high proportion of men (71.9 %) and had a high proportion of full-time employment (89.9 %) in 2007, both well above the equivalent figures for the non-financial business economy as a whole. However, these characteristics were fairly typical for the industrial economy (NACE Sections C to E), with male employment in the furniture and other manufacturing activities sector 2.0 percentage points above the industrial average and full-time employment 2.8 percentage points below the average.

The age profile of the workforce in this sector was fairly close to the non-financial business economy average based on the age classes presented, with a slightly higher proportion of workers aged 30 to 49, and lower proportions in both of the other two age classes.

Expenditure, productivity and profitability

The EU-27’s furniture and other manufacturing sector recorded EUR 6.0 billion of tangible investment in 2006, resulting in an investment rate of 11.3 %, about three fifths the average within the non-financial business economy. Personnel costs accounted for a large part of the furniture and other manufacturing sector's operating expenditure in the EU-27, 22.9 % compared with a non-financial business economy average of 16.1 %. This share was particularly high in the musical instruments manufacturing subsector where it reached 34.8 %, while it was around half this level (17.5 %) in the jewellery manufacturing subsector.

Apparent labour productivity of the EU-27’s furniture and other manufacturing activities workforce was EUR 29.7 thousand per person employed in 2006 and average personnel costs equated to EUR 22.8 thousand per employee. Both of these ratios were well below the non-financial business economy averages, in particular the apparent labour productivity. As a result, the EU-27 wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio was also considerably below average, 129.9 % for furniture and other manufacturing activities compared with the non-financial business economy average of 151.1 %. None of the subsectors recorded a wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio above the non-financial business economy average, the highest being 137.3 % for sports goods manufacturing. In all Member States[1] the wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio for the furniture and other manufacturing sector was below the non-financial business economy average; in Sweden and Luxembourg this ratio was below 100 %, indicating that average personnel costs exceeded average value added per person employed.

The gross operating rate (the ratio of gross operating surplus to turnover, expressed as a percentage) was 9.6 % for the EU-27's furniture and other manufacturing sector in 2006, only slightly below the 10.8 % average for the non-financial business economy. The jewellery manufacturing subsector recorded a gross operating rate equal to the non-financial business economy average, while the musical instruments manufacturing subsector exceeded this average, with a rate of 14.6 %.

External trade

Just under two thirds (66.2 %) of furniture and other manufactured goods (CPA Division 36) exported by the EU-27 Member States was intra-EU trade and the remainder was exported outside of the EU-27. This share was slightly lower than the average for all industrial products (CPA Sections C to E). Furniture and other manufactured goods accounted for 5 % or more of industrial exports in Poland, Lithuania and Slovenia. Italy and Poland recorded the largest trade surplus for these products, with the United Kingdom and France recording the largest trade deficits.

The EU-27 exported EUR 31.5 billion of furniture and other manufactured goods outside of the EU in 2007, equivalent to a 2.7 % share of industrial exports. With imports valued at EUR 47.2 billion the EU-27 recorded a trade deficit of EUR 15.6 billion in 2007 for furniture and other manufactured goods. A large trade deficit was recorded for games and toys (CPA Group 36.5) – while the only trade surplus (at the CPA group level) was recorded for jewellery and related articles (CPA Group 36.2).

China was the dominant partner for EU-27 imports, supplying more than half (51.9 %) of all furniture and other manufactured goods imported in 2007, far ahead of any other country. To put this into context, the Chinese share of all industrial imports by the EU-27 was 17.1 %. At the CPA group level, China dominated EU-27 imports for several products, notably games and toys (85.1 %), miscellaneous manufactured goods (CPA Group 36.6, 66.0 %), and sports goods (CPA Group 36.4, 60.7 %). The only CPA group where China was not the main origin of EU-27 imports was jewellery, where India (17.0 %) had the largest share.

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) and the COMEXT database for external trade.

Further Eurostat information

Publications

Main tables

Database

Dedicated section

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Cyprus, Poland and Romania, 2005; Bulgaria, Ireland, Greece, Malta and the Netherlands, not available or incomplete.
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