Archive:Glass 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). The present article covers the production of glass and glass products, corresponding to NACE Rev 1.1 Group 26.1, which is part of the other non-metallic minerals sector. Glass products include:
- flat glass;
- container glass;
- glass fibres;
- specialised glass.
_Structural_profile,_EU-27,_2006.PNG)
Main statistical findings
_Production_of_selected_products,_EU-27,_2007_(1).PNG)
_Index_of_production,_EU-27_(2000%3D100).PNG)
_Expenditure,_productivity_and_profitability,_EU-27,_2006.PNG)
Glass comes in a range of forms for a range of functions. The majority of EU-27 glass production in 2007 was in the form of container glass (bottles and jars used for preserving and packaging drinks, food and perfumes among other products), the production of flat glass (principally float glass for buildings and automotive vehicles in the form of windows and windscreens) being about one half of that of container glass. The combined production of domestic tableware glass (for example, drinking glasses and oven dishes), special glass (for example, optical glass, electrical equipment screens and lighting glass) and filament glass fibre (principally for the reinforcement of composite materials) was about one third of that of flat glass in 2007.
Structural profile
There were 17.7 thousand enterprises in the EU-27 for whom the manufacture of glass and glass products (NACE Group 26.1, hereafter referred to as glass manufacturing) was their main activity in 2005. These glass manufacturing enterprises employed 371.6 thousand persons in the Member States in 2006, about one in four (23.4 %) of all those working in other non-metallic mineral products manufacturing activities. The EU-27’s glass manufacturing sector had a turnover of EUR 48.5 billion in 2006, of which EUR 16.7 billion was added value, representing one fifth (20.9 %) of the value added generated by all other non-metallic mineral product activities.
The two largest subsectors within the EU-27's glass manufacturing sector were the manufacture of hollow glass (NACE Class 26.13) and the shaping and processing of flat glass (NACE Class 26.12), which were of similar size and together generated about three fifths (60.4 %) of the total value added of the glass manufacturing sector in 2006. The manufacture and processing of other glass, including technical glassware (NACE Class 26.15) subsector and the slightly smaller manufacture of flat glass (NACE Class 26.11) subsector accounted together for a further three tenths of the value added of the sector, with the remainder (one tenth) coming from the glass fibres manufacturing (NACE Class 26.14) subsector.
Among the Member States, Germany had the largest glass manufacturing sector in 2006, contributing just over one fifth (20.9 %) of the value added generated in the EU-27, followed by France and Italy. However, it was in the Czech Republic that the value added created by the glass manufacturing sector contributed most[1] to the value added of the non-financial business economy (NACE Sections C to I and K) in 2006, almost three and a half-times the EU-27 average.
During the period between 1997 and 2007, the development of the EU-27’s production index for glass manufacturing activities was very similar to the development in output already described for other non-metallic mineral products as a whole, albeit with notably stronger growth in three years through until 2000. Over the ten years through until 2007, growth in the output of glass manufacturing in EU-27 was on average 2.2 % per year, a very similar rate of growth to the industrial average (2.1 % per year). Within glass manufacturing, the development in the output of hollow glass stood apart from the broadly upward growth recorded for other activities; there was a relatively gentle but steady decline in the EU-27’s production index of hollow glass at an average -0.6 % per year.
Expenditure and productivity
There was tangible investment of EUR 3.1 billion in the EU-27’s glass manufacturing sector in 2006. This represented about one fifth (20.3 %) of the tangible investment across all the other non-metallic mineral products manufacturing activities, a very similar share to the relative contribution made by this sector to value added (20.9 %). The investment rate in the EU-27’s glass manufacturing sector (18.6 %) was similar, therefore, to the investment rate noted across all other non-metallic mineral products manufacturing activities (19.1 %) in 2006.
About one quarter (24.9 %) of the glass manufacturing sector’s operating expenditure went on personnel costs in 2006, a higher share than the average (21.6 %) across all of the other non-metallic mineral products manufacturing activities, despite average personnel costs in the sector (EUR 30.2 thousand per employee) being marginally lower.
Each person employed in the EU-27’s glass manufacturing sector generated an average of EUR 44.9 thousand of added value in 2006, which was about 10 % less than the corresponding level of apparent labour productivity among those working within other non-metallic mineral products manufacturing, while the corresponding ratio for average personnel costs showed that employees within glass manufacturing received, on average, EUR 14.7 thousand more than their counterparts across all other non-metallic mineral products manufacturing activities. The resulting wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio for the EU-27’s glass manufacturing sector was 147.8 % which was, by way of comparison, below the ratio (164.5 %) for other non-metallic mineral products manufacturing as a whole. Among the glass manufacturing activities, wage-adjusted labour productivity ratios varied from just under 142 % for the shaping and processing of flat glass and for the manufacture and processing of other glass, including technical glassware to a high of 179.8 % for the manufacture of flat glass.
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) and the PRODCOM statistics on the production of manufactured goods.
Context
The processes of transforming mineral raw materials such as clay, lime, sand or stone into other non-metallic mineral products (for use, among others, by construction, food and beverages manufacturing, or households in the form of consumer durables) tend to be energy-intensive. Indeed, energy costs accounted for 9.5 % of the purchases of goods and services in the EU’s other non-metallic mineral products manufacturing sector in 2006, the second highest ratio after non-energy mining and quarrying (NACE Subsection CB) among the industrial structural business statistics sectors. Within this sector, the share of energy costs in purchases of goods and services reached 14.9 % for the EU-27’s ceramic goods and clay products manufacturing subsector.
Current policy initiatives are focused on environmental impacts, energy strategies, and health and safety. Under the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP), independent consultants delivered studies to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry on the competitiveness of the ceramics and glass sectors in October 2008.
Challenges were identified, including ensuring the availability of energy and raw materials at affordable prices, the need to minimise energy waste, reduce energy use, as well as maintaining emissions within targets and removing tariff and non-tariff international barriers to trade. Suggested areas of development were a focus on the high quality and high value products end of the market, investment in cleaner technologies and environmental management systems, investment in more efficient and flexible automation technologies, improved and more targeted skills training programmes and efforts at a policy level to establish EU environmental regulations on a global platform.
See also
Further Eurostat information
Publications
- European Business: Facts and figures - 2009 edition
Main tables
Database
Dedicated section
External links
Notes
- ↑ Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Poland and Romania, 2005; Malta, the Netherlands and Portugal, not available.