Archive:Pharmaceuticals 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 manufacture of pharmaceuticals, which is part of the fuel and chemicals production sector. The activities covered in this article correspond to two NACE Rev 1.1 classes, which are:
- the manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products (NACE Class 24.41);
- pharmaceutical preparations (NACE Class 24.42), which includes medicaments, vaccines, homeopathic preparations, dental fillings, bandages and dressings.
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Main statistical findings
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Against the background of innovation concerns, it is interesting to note the research and development (R & D) expenditure within the pharmaceuticals manufacturing sector. Among the 20 Member States for which data are available[1] for either 2005 or 2006, intra-mural expenditure was EUR 8.7 billion, 90 % of which was spent in Germany, Sweden, Denmark, France, the United Kingdom and Spain. In Denmark, as well as Slovenia, R&D expenditure in pharmaceutical manufacturing accounted for a little over two fifths of all R&D expenditure in manufacturing. This proportion was highest in Hungary, where it was nearly three fifths in 2006. In contrast, this share was well below 10 % in Germany, France and the United Kingdom, among a number of Member States.
Structural profile
There were around 4.5 thousand enterprises throughout the EU-27 for which pharmaceuticals manufacturing was their principal activity in 2006. These enterprises employed an estimated 610.0 thousand persons in the Member States, about three in every ten of the workers within all fuel processing and chemicals manufacturing activities. The value added generated by pharmaceutical activities in the EU-27 was EUR 70.5 billion in 2006, a little more than one third (36.0 %) of the turnover generated. The sector also contributed three tenths of the value added generated across all fuel processing and chemicals manufacturing in 2005.
The vast majority (89.3 %) of the value added generated by the pharmaceuticals sector of the EU-27 came from the pharmaceutical preparations manufacturing subsector (NACE Class 24.42), the remainder coming from the manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products (NACE Class 24.41).
The pharmaceuticals manufacturing sectors in Germany and France were larger than in other Member States and similar in size in terms of their value added generated in 2006; each contributed about one fifth of EU-27 value added. Although both of these countries showed moderate specialisation in these activities, specialisation was much stronger in Hungary, Ireland, Sweden, Belgium and particularly in Slovenia, where the pharmaceuticals sector contributed around 4.1 % of non-financial business economy value added in 2006, over three times the equivalent share for the EU-27.
In the ten year period through until 2007, there was a consistent and steep rise in the production index for EU-27 pharmaceuticals manufacturing. Indeed, among the nine NACE groups within fuel processing and chemicals manufacturing for which data are available[2], the growth in the output of pharmaceuticals manufacturing (an average 6.1 % per year) was the highest and about twice the rate of growth of the next highest that was recorded for basic chemicals manufacturing. Among the Member States, output growth was particularly strong in Greece (an average 14.1 % per year) and Ireland (an average 18.0 %), whereas there were moderate declines in Portugal and Finland.
EU-27 tangible investment in the pharmaceuticals manufacturing sector was EUR 8.4 billion in 2006, which was about one quarter of tangible investment across all fuel processing and chemicals manufacturing activities. Nevertheless, this represented a slightly lower share than the equivalent share in terms of value added, resulting in an investment rate for the pharmaceuticals sector (12.0 %) that was beneath the average rate (14.4 % in 2005) for fuel processing and chemicals manufacturing.
Personnel costs accounted for about one fifth (20.4 %) of the pharmaceutical sector’s operating expenditure in 2006, approaching twice the average share (11.7 % in 2005) of all fuel processing and chemical manufacturing activities. This notably higher share was not, however, the result of particularly higher average personnel costs. Indeed, average personnel costs of EUR 56.1 per pharmaceutical employee in 2006 were almost identical to those across the whole of fuel processing and chemicals manufacturing in the EU-27 in 2005. The apparent labour productivity of those working in the EU-27’s pharmaceutical sector in 2006 was about EUR 10.0 thousand higher than the average across fuel processing and chemicals manufacturing in 2005; each person employed in pharmaceuticals manufacturing in the EU-27 generated an average of EUR 115.6 thousand of value added in 2006. The value added generated per person employed in the pharmaceuticals manufacturing sector covered average personnel costs about twice over. In these terms, the EU-27 wage adjusted labour productivity ratio for the pharmaceuticals sector of 205.9 % in 2006 was slightly higher than that (194.9 % in 2005) for the whole of fuel processing and chemicals manufacturing. Among the Member States, wage adjusted labour productivity ratios for the pharmaceuticals sector were much higher than average (for fuel processing and chemicals manufacturing) in Belgium, Romania, Finland and Sweden, but much lower in Greece, Spain, Estonia (2005) and Poland (2005).
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 the PRODCOM statistics on the production of manufactured goods.
Context
Enterprises in the fuel processing and chemicals sector operate within a highly regulated framework that extends from the supply of the raw materials, through their processing to the treatment of waste. The Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemical substances (the so-called REACH Regulation) came into force on 1 July 2007, with the main aims of improving the protection of human health and the environment from risks posed by chemicals. The first list of 15 chemicals to undergo scrutiny was published by the European Chemicals Agency in October 2008. A new Regulation on the classification, labelling and packaging of chemical substances and mixtures (CLP) was adopted in December 2008, in order to align the labelling and description of hazards around the world. The CLP Regulation entered into force on 20 January 2009, with the deadline for substance classification according to the new rules by 1 December 2010 and for mixtures by 1 June 2015.
The fuel processing and chemicals sector faces a number of key challenges; these are energy and raw materials supply, climate change and barriers to market entry in emerging countries. Against this background, the High Level Group on the Competitiveness of the European Chemicals Industry, which was first proposed by the European Commission in June 2007 (Decision 2007/418), released its final strategy report in February 2009. The strategies focus on more innovation and research, the responsible use of resources and a level playing field for sourcing energy and raw materials, and a drive to open world markets.
Legislation for medicinal products for human use and veterinary use continues to be updated to reflect new developments. These include the November 2007 Regulation updating rules governing the production, distribution and use of advanced therapy medicinal products, for processes such as gene therapy, somatic cell therapy and tissue engineering, by bringing them into a single, integrated framework. The European Commission also produced a Communication clarifying for the pharmaceutical sector the information to be provided in applications of medicinal products under paediatric investigation plans (OJ 2008/C 243/01).
However, the European Commission issued a Communication in December 2008 recognising that more needs to be done to address inequalities of availability of information about medicines, the growth in counterfeit medicines and the slow down in innovation. It laid out three legislative proposals:
- to tackle the growing issues of counterfeiting and illegal distribution of medicines (COM(2008) 664 final);
- to enable citizens to have access to high-quality information on prescription-only medicines (COM(2008) 662 final);
- to improve patient protection by strengthening the EU system for the safety monitoring ('pharmacovigilance') of medicines (COM(2008) 664 final).
Community action within the pharmaceuticals sector has had the dual objective of safeguarding public health by providing safe and effective medicines, while creating a business environment that stimulates research, boosts innovation and supports competitiveness.
See also
- Chemicals - monitoring REACH with indicators
- Chemicals management statistics
- International trade in medicinal and pharmaceutical products
Further Eurostat information
Publications
- European Business: Facts and figures - 2009 edition
Main tables
Database
Dedicated section
Other information
- Decision 2007/418 of 14 June 2007 setting up the High Level Group on the Competitiveness of the Chemicals Industry in the European Union
- Regulation 1394/2007 of 13 November 2007 on advanced therapy medicinal products and amending Directive 2001/83/EC and Regulation 726/2004
- Proposal COM(2008) 662 final for amending, as regards information to the general public on medicinal products for human use subject to medical prescription, Regulation 26/2004 laying down Community procedures for the authorisation and supervision of medicinal products for human and veterinary use and establishing a European Medicines Agency
- Proposal COM(2008) 664 final for amending, as regards pharmacovigilance of medicinal products for human use, Regulation 726/2004 laying down Community procedures for the authorisation and supervision of medicinal products for human and veterinary use and establishing a European Medicines Agency
- Proposal COM(2008) 668 final for amending Directive 2001/83 as regards the prevention of the entry into the legal supply chain of medicinal products which are falsified in relation to their identity, history or source
- Regulation 1272/2008 of 16 December 2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures, amending and repealing Directives 67/548 and 1999/45, and amending Regulation 1907/2006