Statistics Explained

Archive:Rental and leasing activities statistics - NACE Rev. 2

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Data from October 2015. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.

This article presents an overview of statistics for the rental and leasing activities sector in the European Union (EU), as covered by NACE Rev. 2 Division 77. It belongs to a set of statistical articles on 'Business economy by sector'.

Table 1: Key indicators, rental and leasing activities (NACE Division 77), EU-28, 2012 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Figure 1: Sectoral analysis of rental and leasing activities (NACE Division 77), EU-28, 2012 (¹)
(% share of sectoral total) - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 2a: Sectoral analysis of key indicators, rental and leasing activities (NACE Division 77), EU-28, 2012 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 2b: Sectoral analysis of key indicators, rental and leasing activities (NACE Division 77), EU-28, 2012 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 3: Largest and most specialised Member States in rental and leasing activities (NACE Division 77), EU-28, 2012 (¹) - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)


Table 4a: Key indicators, rental and leasing activities (NACE Division 77), 2012 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 4b: Key indicators, rental and leasing activities (NACE Division 77), 2012 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 5: Key size class indicators, rental and leasing activities (NACE Division 77), EU-28, 2012 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_1b_se_r2)
Figure 2: Relative importance of enterprise size classes, rental and leasing activities (NACE Division 77), EU-28, 2012 (¹)
(% share of sectoral total) - Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_1b_se_r2)
Table 6a: Employment by enterprise size class, rental and leasing activities (NACE Division 77), 2012 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_1b_se_r2)
Table 6b: Value added by enterprise size class, rental and leasing activities (NACE Division 77), 2012 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_1b_se_r2)

Main statistical findings

Structural profile

There were 170 thousand enterprises operating with rental and leasing activities (Division 77) as their principal activity in the EU-28 in 2012. Together they employed 646 thousand persons, equivalent to 0.5 % of the non-financial business economy (Sections B to J and L to N and Division 95) workforce or 4.8 % of those employed in administrative and support service activities (Section N).

The rental and leasing activities sector generated EUR 81.2 billion of value added, which was a considerably higher share of both the non-financial business economy total (1.3 %) and of the administrative and support services total (19.2 %) than the shares recorded for employment. These differences can, in part, be explained by the specific character of rental and leasing activities, such as their capital-intensive nature. Indeed, these activities have very different cost structures and revenue streams and care should be taken when making comparisons with other sectors and subsectors in the non-financial business economy. Enterprises that engage in rental and leasing activities own the goods that they rent or lease, with financial costs and depreciation charges often constituting the main element of their total costs: these costs and charges are not considered when calculating gross value added and so productivity and profitability measures based on value added are often very high. One example of this phenomena is the apparent labour productivity ratio, which for the EU-28’s rental and leasing activities sector reached EUR 126.0 thousand per person employed in 2012, considerably above the non-financial business economy average of EUR 46.2 thousand per person employed and some 3.9 times as high as the administrative and support services average of EUR 32.0 thousand per person employed. While the rental and leasing activities sector had the eighth highest level of apparent labour productivity among the NACE divisions that constitute the non-financial business economy, average personnel costs were not particularly high, averaging EUR 35.0 thousand per employee across the EU-28 in 2012, compared with EUR 32.4 thousand per employee for the whole of the non-financial business economy and an average of EUR 23.1 thousand per employee for administrative and support services. These considerable differences resulted in the wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio  —  which combines the two previous indicators and shows the extent to which value added per person employed covers average personnel costs per employee — attaining 359.0 % for the EU-28’s rental and leasing activities sector in 2012. This was the third highest ratio among any of the NACE divisions that constitute the non-financial business economy, and stood some 2.5 times as high as the non-financial business economy average (142.7 %) or the administrative and support services average (137.0 %).

In a similar vein, the gross operating rate (which presents the relation between the gross operating surplus and turnover) and is one measure of operating profitability — stood at 38.4 % for the EU-28’s rental and leasing activities sector in 2012, more than four times as high as the non-financial business economy average (9.4 %) and around 2.5 times as high as the administrative and support services average (15.4 %). This was the fourth highest level of operating profitability (using this measure) among the NACE divisions within the non-financial business economy.

Sectoral analysis

Just over half (53.1 %) of the enterprises within the EU-28’s rental and leasing activities sector in 2012 were classified as part of the renting and leasing of other machinery, equipment and tangible goods subsector (Group 77.3). Two subsectors accounted for the majority of the remaining enterprises, with the renting and leasing of personal and household goods (Group 77.2) taking a 22.8 % share, while the renting and leasing of motor vehicles (Group 77.1) accounted for 21.2 %, leaving just 3.0 % of the sectoral total for enterprises whose main activity was the leasing of intellectual property and similar products, except copyrighted works (Group 77.4, hereafter referred to as the leasing of intellectual property).

The relative shares of sectoral employment between the four groups that form the rental and leasing activities sector were broadly similar to those recorded for the breakdown of the number of enterprises: the renting and leasing of other machinery, equipment and tangible goods subsector had the highest share (50.5 %), followed by the renting and leasing of motor vehicles (24.8 %), the renting and leasing of personal and household goods (22.1 %) and the leasing of intellectual property (2.5 %).

However, the nature of the goods being rented or leased had an influence on the sectoral breakdown of value added; the share of value added for the renting and leasing of motor vehicles was considerably higher than that of number of enterprises or employment for this subsector. The renting and leasing of other machinery, equipment and tangible goods subsector remained the largest subsector, by this measure, with a 44.4 % share of sectoral value added, followed by the renting and leasing of motor vehicles (42.6 %), while the relative importance of the renting and leasing of personal and household goods was much lower (8.0 %) just as for the leasing of intellectual property .

These differences in value added were reflected in the wide range of EU-28 apparent labour productivity ratios, with a high of EUR 260.0 thousand per person employed for the leasing of intellectual property (2011 value) and EUR 216.0 thousand per person employed for the renting and leasing of motor vehicles in 2012, which was the third highest value among the NACE groups within the non-financial business economy. Apparent labour productivity for the renting and leasing of other machinery, equipment and tangible goods was also relatively high (EUR 110.0 thousand per person employed in 2012), in contrast to the renting and leasing of personal and household goods, where apparent labour productivity — at EUR 45.0 thousand per person employed — was below the non-financial business economy average (EUR 46.2 thousand per person employed).

There were relatively high average personnel costs (EUR 67.2 thousand per employee) for the EU-28’s leasing of intellectual property. Otherwise, personnel costs per employee within the rental and leasing activities sector ranged from EUR 37.0 thousand per employee for the renting and leasing of other machinery, equipment and tangible goods through EUR 34.3 thousand per employee for the renting and leasing of motor vehicles, down to EUR 27.7 thousand per employee for the renting and leasing of personal and household goods (the only subsector to record average personnel costs that were below the EU-28 non-financial business economy average of EUR 32.4 thousand per employee).

EU-28 wage-adjusted labour productivity ratios were above the non-financial business economy average for all four subsectors that form the rental and leasing activities sector in 2012. Although relatively close to the non-financial business economy average (142.7 %) for the renting and leasing of personal and household goods subsector (163.0 %), this ratio rose to 300.0 % for the renting and leasing of other machinery, equipment and tangible goods, through 400.0 % for the leasing of intellectual property, and peaked at 629.0 % for the renting and leasing of motor vehicles — the highest ratio among any of the NACE groups within the non-financial business economy (for which data are available).

The gross operating rate, which is one measure of operating profitability, was well above the EU-28 non-financial business economy average of 9.4 % in 2012 for all four subsectors that constitute the rental and leasing sector, ranging from 22.9 % for the renting and leasing of personal and household goods, through 35.5 % for the renting and leasing of other machinery, equipment and tangible goods, to 40.0 % for the leasing of intellectual property, before peaking at 44.6 % for the renting and leasing of motor vehicles — the last two of these rates ranked sixth and third highest in 2012 across all of the NACE groups within the non-financial business economy.

Country analysis

The United Kingdom recorded the highest share (24.2 %) of EU-28 value added within the rental and leasing activities sector in 2012. France (18.8 %) and Germany (17.1 %) were also relatively important in value added terms; none of the remaining EU Member States had a double-digit share of the total, with the next highest share being recorded for Italy (6.5 %). The 0.9 % share of EU-28 value added recorded in this sector for Luxembourg was the second highest share for Luxembourg among all of the NACE divisions within the non-financial business economy — just after telecommunications (Division 61). As such, Luxembourg was the most specialised EU Member State in the rental and leasing sector in terms of its contribution to non-financial business economy value added in 2012, as some 3.9 % of non-financial business economy value added was generated by this sector, which was three times as high as the EU-28 average (1.3 %). Estonia (2.0 % of national non-financial business economy value added), the United Kingdom and Austria (both 1.9 %), Ireland and France (both 1.7 %) and the two remaining Benelux countries of Belgium and the Netherlands (both 1.6 %) were also relatively specialised in the rental and leasing activities sector.

At the other end of the range, the relative weight of the rental and leasing activities sector was less than half the EU-28 average in the Czech Republic (where the rental and leasing activities sector provided 0.6 % of the value added generated in the non-financial business economy) and Cyprus (0.5 %). The relative importance of the rental and leasing activities sector was even lower in Croatia and Bulgaria (both 0.4 %). Switzerland was also relatively unspecialised in the rental and leasing activities sector, as this sector provided only 0.2 % of its total value added in the non-financial business economy in 2012.

A more detailed activity analysis shows that the United Kingdom recorded the highest share of EU-28 value added for the renting and leasing of motor vehicles (28.6 %) and for the renting and leasing of other machinery, equipment and tangible goods (23.6 %), while France recorded the highest share of EU-28 value added for the renting and leasing of personal and household goods (32.2 %) and for the leasing of intellectual property.

In terms of persons employed, the United Kingdom had the largest workforce for rental and leasing activities, at 145.0 thousand persons in 2012, equivalent to 22.5 % of the EU-28 workforce, followed by Germany (16.2 %), France (14.1 %) and Spain (9.5 %).

In each of the EU Member States for which data are available for 2012, wage-adjusted labour productivity ratios for rental and leasing activities were higher than non-financial business economy averages. This was particularly the case for Luxembourg, Austria, Romania, Hungary and France, where the wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio for rental and leasing activities was more than three times as high as the average, peaking at 7.3 times as high as the average in Luxembourg. In Luxembourg, Austria and Romania, the wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio for the rental and leasing activities sector was the highest among any of the NACE divisions in the non-financial business economy, while the rental and leasing activities sector had the second highest wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio across the NACE divisions within the non-financial business economies of Belgium, Germany, Estonia, France, Hungary and Slovakia.

A similar pattern was observed for the gross operating rate in 2012, which was considerably higher for rental and leasing activities than for the non-financial business economy as a whole. In Luxembourg, the gross operating rate for rental and leasing activities was 13.1 times as high as the country’s non-financial business economy average, while in France, Romania and Germany it stood between five and six times as high as the national average for the non-financial business economy. In the Czech Republic, Luxembourg and Romania, the gross operating rate of the rental and leasing sector was higher than that recorded for any of the other NACE divisions within the non-financial business economy.


Size class analysis

Small, medium-sized and large enterprises each accounted for fairly similar shares of value added and employment within the EU-28’s rental and leasing activities sector in 2012, while micro enterprises (employing fewer than 10 persons) recorded somewhat higher shares, generating almost one third (31.3 %) of sectoral value added and providing employment to 36.6 % of the rental and leasing activities workforce.

In keeping with the very high level of EU-28 apparent labour productivity for the whole of the rental and leasing activities sector in 2012, all four enterprise size classes recorded high productivity ratios, ranging from EUR 101.8 thousand per person employed for small enterprises (employing 10 to 49 persons) to EUR 163.3 thousand per person employed for large enterprises (employing 250 persons and more).

The role of micro enterprises within the rental and leasing activities sector was often considerable as enterprises with fewer than 10 persons employed were responsible for more than half of the value added that was generated in 2012 in Bulgaria, Slovakia, Austria and Malta, as well as in Luxembourg where the highest share (79.1 %) was recorded. By contrast, large enterprises accounted for the highest share of value added in the United Kingdom (43.9 %) and Italy (37.7 %). In none of the EU Member States (for which data are available) large enterprises in the rental and leasing activities sector had a higher share of sectoral value added than the average of the large enterprises’ share within the non-financial business economy.

In employment terms, the pattern observed for value added was generally repeated, with micro enterprises often accounting for the highest share of the sectoral workforce. Indeed, France and the United Kingdom were the only EU Member States (for which data are available) where micro enterprises did not record the highest proportion of the rental and leasing activities workforce in 2012, as large enterprises accounted for more than one third (39.0 % and 33.8 % respectively) of the sectoral workforce compared with 25.8 % and 17.3 % shares for micro enterprises, respectively.

In Luxembourg and France, the relative weight of micro enterprises within the rental and leasing activities sector was considerably higher when measured in terms of their contribution to sectoral value added than to sectoral employment, while the converse was most notable in Greece, Poland, Latvia and Italy.


Data sources and availability

The analysis presented in this article is based on the main dataset for structural business statistics (SBS) and size class data, all of which are published annually.

The main series provides information for each EU Member State as well as a number of non-member countries at a detailed level according to the activity classification NACE. Data are available for a wide range of variables.

In structural business statistics, size classes are generally defined by the number of persons employed. A limited set of the standard structural business statistics variables (for example, the number of enterprises, turnover, persons employed and value added) are analysed by size class, mostly down to the three-digit (group) level of NACE. The main size classes used in this article for presenting the results are:

  • small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): with 1 to 249 persons employed, further divided into;
    • micro enterprises: with less than 10 persons employed;
    • small enterprises: with 10 to 49 persons employed;
    • medium-sized enterprises: with 50 to 249 persons employed;
  • large enterprises: with 250 or more persons employed.

Context

This article presents an overview of statistics for the rental and leasing activities sector in the EU, as covered by NACE Rev. 2 Division 77.

The activities covered within this sector include the renting and leasing of motor vehicles, which involves renting and operational leasing of passenger cars, light vehicles, trucks, heavy motor vehicles and recreational vehicles. The renting and leasing of personal and household goods includes the renting of recreational and sports equipment, video tapes, CDs, DVDs and so on, and all kinds of household or personal goods including jewellery, musical instruments, costumes, household machinery and equipment ( for example, tools for home repairs). The renting and leasing of other machinery, equipment and tangible goods (without an operator) includes machinery and equipment for agricultural, forestry, industrial, construction, transport and office-based activities. Finally, the leasing of intellectual property and similar products (except copyrighted works) includes activities allowing others to use non-financial assets for which a royalty payment or licensing fee is paid to the asset holder. The use of these assets can take various forms, such as permission for reproduction, use in subsequent processes or products, operating businesses under a franchise and so on the current owners may or may not have created those assets.

This NACE division is composed of four groups:

  • renting and leasing of motor vehicles (Group 77.1);
  • renting and leasing of personal and household goods (Group 77.2);
  • renting and leasing of other machinery, equipment and tangible goods (Group 77.3);
  • leasing of intellectual property and similar products, except copyrighted works (Group 77.4).

These rental and leasing activities exclude financial leasing (Division 64, financial service activities), the renting of real estate (Division 68), as well as the renting of equipment with an operator, for example in construction (Section F) or in transport (Section H).

See also

Further Eurostat information

Publications

Main tables

Database

SBS – services (sbs_serv)
Annual detailed enterprise statistics - services (sbs_na_serv)
Annual detailed enterprise statistics for services (NACE Rev. 2 H-N and S95) (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
SMEs - Annual enterprise statistics by size class - services (sbs_sc_sc)
Services by employment size class (NACE Rev. 2 H-N and S95) (sbs_sc_1b_se_r2)
SBS - regional data - all activities (sbs_r)
SBS data by NUTS 2 regions and NACE Rev. 2 (from 2008 onwards) (sbs_r_nuts06_r2)

Dedicated section

Source data for tables and figures (MS Excel)

Other information

External links

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