Statistics Explained

Archive:Meat production and processing 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 and processing of meat, corresponding to NACE Group 15.1, which is part of the food, beverages and tobacco sector. The activities covered in this article are:

  • all meat processing stages that follow on from animal rearing; in other words, the activities of slaughtering through to the preparation of meat for final consumption, including fresh, chilled, frozen, processed, dried, salted and smoked meats;
  • the treatment of hides and skins, the rendering of fats and the processing of animal offal.

Note that NACE Group 15.1 excludes the agricultural activities of growing, farming, rearing and hunting and also fishing (NACE Divisions 01 and 05).

Table 1: Production, processing, preserving of meat, meat products (NACE Group 15.1). Structural profile, EU-27, 2006
Map 1: Manufacture of food products, beverages and tobacco (NACE Subsection DA)-2009
Table 2: Production, processing, preserving of meat, meat products (NACE Group 15.1). Structural profile: ranking of top five Member States in terms of value added and persons employed, 2006
Figure 1:Production, processing, preserving of meat, meat products (NACE Group 15.1). Index of production, EU-27 (2000=100)
Table 3: Production, processing, preserving of meat, meat products (NACE Group 15.1). Expenditure and productivity, EU-27, 2006

Main statistical findings

Structural profile

There were 44 thousand enterprises across the EU-27 for whom the production, processing and preserving of meat and meat products (NACE Group 15.1, hereafter termed the meat processing sector) was their main area of activity in 2006. These enterprises generated an estimated EUR 30.0 billion of value added in 2006, representing 15.3 % of the food, beverages and tobacco manufacturing sector. The meat processing sector was even more significant in terms of employment; an estimated one million persons worked in these activities in 2006, which was equivalent to 21.3 % of the food, beverages and tobacco manufacturing sector.

Within the EU-27’s meat processing sector, the largest activity in terms of both value added and employment was the production of meat and poultry products (NACE Class 15.13); it generated about 60 % of value added and employed over half (54.2 %) of the workforce. About one third of sectoral employment (31.7 %) and value added (32.1 %) could be attributed to the production and preserving of meat (NACE Class 15.11) subsector, the rest coming from the production and preserving of poultrymeat products (NACE Class 15.12) subsector.

In terms of value added, the meat processing sector was, both in absolute and relative terms, particularly important within the German economy. It accounted for 22.6 % of the EU-27’s value added in 2006, while meat processing enterprises in France and the United Kingdom generated together a further third (32.9 %).

Across the EU-27 as a whole, the meat processing sector accounted for just 0.5 % of the value added generated within the non-financial business economy in 2006. Relative specialisation was highest in Denmark, at twice the EU-27 average. In terms of employment, Poland was also relatively specialised in meat processing activities, as the 125.0 thousand persons in the workforce in 2005 represented approximately 1.6 % of the Polish non-financial business economy workforce, which was twice the average rate in the EU-27.

Apart from a relatively small decline in 2001, the output of the meat processing sector rose steadily during the ten years through until 2007 (with average growth of 1.7 % per year). Among the Member States, there was particularly strong output growth over the period considered in Latvia (8.6 % per year), Belgium (5.3 % per year), Greece and Poland (both 5.1 % per year).

Expenditure and productivity

The Operating costsstructure (broken down into personnel costs and purchases of goods and services) of the meat processing sector in the EU-27 was similar to that for the whole of food, beverages and tobacco manufacturing. This was not always the case among the Member States: for example, in Luxembourg personnel costs accounted for a much higher share of total operating costs for meat processing activities (31.3 % compared with 21.0 %), while in Cyprus the opposite was true (9.2 % compared with 20.1 %).

The apparent labour productivity of the EU-27’s meat processing sector was estimated at EUR 30.0 thousand per person employed in 2006. This was the lowest level of labour productivity among the ten NACE groups that comprise the food, beverages and tobacco manufacturing sector and well below the sectoral average of EUR 41.8 thousand per person employed. Despite relatively low average personnel costs (EUR 22.2 thousand per employee, almost 15 % less than the food, beverages and tobacco manufacturing average), the Wage adjusted labour productivity ratio of the EU-27’s meat processing sector (134.1 % in 2005) remained significantly below that for the whole of the food, beverages and tobacco sector (163.0 % in 2005).

For the overwhelming majority of Member States, wage adjusted labour productivity within the meat processing sector was relatively low (when compared with the whole of the food, beverages and tobacco manufacturing sector). The two main exceptions concerned meat processing activities in Bulgaria (274.7 % compared with 213.4 %) and Cyprus (193.5 % compared with 146.6 %).

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).

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   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.

In recent years, the EU has been active in harmonising animal health measures and systems of disease surveillance, diagnosis and control. It has developed a harmonised legal framework for trade in live animals and animal products. In part, this has been in response to consumer concerns regarding public health and food safety aspects of animal health. In this regard, the European Commission established a framework for animal health and welfare measures for the period 2007-2013 (COM(2007) 539 final). The European Commission also made a proposal to the Council in September 2008 regarding improvements in conditions for animals at the time of slaughter or killing in order to ensure that they are humanely treated (COM(2008) 553 final).

As well as policies that affect EU production and processing, the European Commission has also laid down new requirements for imports of meat and meat products that are aimed at maintaining and reinforcing standards, such as new rules that came into force in January 2009 concerning poultry and certain poultry products.

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