Statistics Explained

Archive:Building installation 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 installation work, corresponding to NACE Group 45.3, which is part of the construction sector. Installation work is divided into four NACE classes:

  • installation of electrical wiring and fittings (NACE Class 45.31), including heating and air-conditioning systems, aerials, alarm systems and other electrical work, sprinkler systems, elevators and escalators, and illumination and signalling systems for roads, railways, airports, harbours, etc.;
  • insulation for water, heat and sound (NACE Class 45.32);
  • plumbing (NACE Class 45.33), including all water and gas supply, drainage, heating and ventilation work;
  • other building installation (NACE Class 45.34).

Note that the installation of industrial equipment (for example, the installation of industrial furnaces and turbines) is excluded.

Table 1: Building installation (NACE Group 45.3). Structural profile, EU-27, 2006

Main statistical findings

Structural profile

Figure 1: Building installation (NACE Group 45.3). Relative weight within building installation, EU-27, 2006 (%)
Table 2:Building installation (NACE Group 45.3). Structural profile: ranking of top five Member States in terms of value added and persons employed, 2006
Table 3: Building installation (NACE Group 45.3). Expenditure and productivity, EU-27, 2006

Building installation (NACE Group 45.3) consisted of 720.0 thousand enterprises, which employed 3.3 million persons and generated EUR 112 billion of value added in the EU-27 in 2006. As such, building installation made up more than one fifth of the construction sector (NACE Section F), contributing 23.6 % of the workforce and 22.0 % of the value added. At the NACE class level, the largest activities (in value added terms) were the installation of electrical wiring and fittings (NACE Class 45.31), which alone generated almost half of the sectoral total, and plumbing (NACE Class 45.33) that contributed just under two fifths of the total.

The United Kingdom had the largest building installation sector in the EU-27 in value added terms, contributing 19.1 % of EU-27 total. In employment terms, Spain had the largest workforce (16.2 % of the [[Glossary:Enterprise| total) with over half a million workers. Furthermore, the workforce in the United Kingdom only accounted for 11.5 % of the [[Glossary:Enterprise| total (7.6 percentage points less than its value added share). Spain and Luxembourg were the Member States most specialised in terms of the contribution made by building installation to the value added of the non-financial business economy.

Within the construction sector, the building installation sector[1] was most important (in value added terms) in Sweden where it contributed 29.6 % of construction value added, while in Germany, Denmark, Luxembourg and Austria it also contributed more than one quarter of construction value added.

In all of the Member States, the two main subsectors (namely the installation of electrical wiring and fittings, and plumbing) together accounted for at least three quarters of sectoral value added. The contribution of the other building installation subsector was greatest in Portugal where it accounted for 17.1 % of building installation value added, and its share was also over 15 % in Hungary and Bulgaria. The specialist insulation subsector only exceeded 8 % of building installation value added in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Expenditure and productivity

In the [[Glossary:Enterprise|'s building installation sector, tangible investment was EUR 5.6 billion in 2006, which equated to 11.7 % of the construction total, around half this sector's share of value added and employment. The investment rate, in other words the relation between investment and value added, was just 5.0 %, the lowest among the construction NACE groups, and only slightly more than half the average recorded for construction as a whole. This was the fourth lowest investment rate of any NACE group (with 2005 or 2006 data available) within the non-financial business economy, higher only than three of the groups from within business services.

The share of personnel costs in total operating expenditure was 30.0 %, above the average for construction, but lower than for building completion or the renting of construction or demolition equipment (NACE Groups 45.4 and 45.5). The building installation sector recorded apparent labour productivity of EUR 33.6 thousand per person employed in the [[Glossary:Enterprise| in 2006. This was higher than for building completion, but otherwise was the lowest among the construction NACE groups. Average personnel costs were EUR 28.5 thousand per employee, which stood above the construction average. This combination of relatively low apparent labour productivity and slightly above average personnel costs resulted in a wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio for building installation of just 117.9 %, well below the construction average of 129.7 %, and again higher only than the ratio for the building completion sector (among construction NACE groups). The wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio for building installation was, across the Member States, generally below the average ratio for the construction sector, other than in Slovakia, the Netherlands, Poland, Lithuania and Austria[2].

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.

Context

Building and civil engineering projects typically take much longer from conception to completion than in many other sectors, and often involve a large number of sub-contracting enterprises with various specialisations. Construction projects are often a key factor in urban regeneration, and also in maintaining or developing transport and communication infrastructure. Nevertheless, construction projects impact upon the environment in a number of ways, notably the change in land use, the consumption of materials and fuel, the production of waste, as well as noise and air emissions.

Another characteristic of construction activity is that it is particularly cyclical, influenced by business and consumer confidence, interest rates and government programmes. The level of confidence among construction enterprises, according to the European Commission's Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs is presented in terms of a balance of positive compared with negative responses. This measure turned positive in July 2006 for the first time since June 1990, peaked in September 2006 and then became negative again in November 2007. During 2008, the fall in construction confidence accelerated and fell particularly strongly in the final quarter of 2008, such that by December 2008 the balance was down to -32.3 %. At the time of writing, with overall economic activity declining in many Member States, major public sector funding for infrastructure projects has been proposed by a number of governments as one means of stimulating activity and creating jobs.

See also

Further Eurostat information

Publications

Main tables

Database

Dedicated section

External links

Notes

  1. Cyprus and Poland, 2005; Malta, not available.
  2. Ireland, Cyprus and Poland, 2005; Malta, not available.