OREANDA-NEWS.  In 2015, industry was still the largest economic activity in the European Union (EU) in terms of output generated. Accounting for 19.3% of EU total gross value added (GVA), industry was immediately ahead of the economic activities "Public administration, defence, education, human health and social work activities" (19.1%) and "Wholesale and retail trade, transport, accommodation and food services" (18.9%). "Real estate activities" (11.2%) and "Professional, scientific and technical activities" (10.9%) had also a significant share of EU total gross value added. 

The respective shares of these economic activities have however followed contrasting trends over the last twenty years. The percentage of gross value added generated increased in "Professional, scientific and technical activities" (from 8.5% in 1995 to 10.9% in 2015, or +2.4 percentage points – pp), "Public administration, defence, education, human health and social work activities" (+1.1 pp), "Real estate activities" (+1.0 pp). It remained nearly stable at around 19% in "Wholesale and retail trade, transport, accommodation and food services". In contrast, the share of industry notably decreased (from 23.3% in 1995 to 19.3% in 2015, or -4.0 pp) as did that of agriculture, forestry and fishing (by -1.1 pp)

Similar trends can be observed for the shares of these economic activities in total employment. Almost half of EU employment was concentrated in 2015 in two economic activities: "Wholesale and retail trade, transport, accommodation and food services" (24.6%) and "Public administration, defence, education, human health and social work activities" (23.6%), both activities having seen their respective weight in total employment slightly increase over the last twenty years. In contrast, the share of industry in EU employment fell from 20.9% in 1995 to 15.4% in 2015.

Share of industry in total GVA highest in Ireland and the Czech Republic

In twelve EU Member States, "Wholesale and retail trade, transport, accommodation and food services" was in 2015 the first economic activity in terms of gross value added generated, with the highest proportions being recorded in Lithuania (31.4% of total GVA), Cyprus and Latvia (both 25.2%), Poland (25.0%), Portugal (24.7%) and Greece (24.4%). In nine Member States, "Industry" came first, accounting for around a quarter of total GVA. This was particularly the case in Ireland (39.1%) and the Czech Republic (32.1%), followed by Hungary (27.8%), Slovenia (27.3%) and Slovakia (27.0%). "Public administration, defence, education, human health and social work activities" was the main economic activity in terms of GVA in the three EU Nordic Member States – Sweden (23.8%), Denmark (23.1%) and Finland (21.8%) – as well as France (23.0%), Belgium (22.5%), the Netherlands (21.8%) and the United Kingdom (18.5%, equal with "Wholesale and retail trade, transport, accommodation and food services"). Luxembourg stood out, with "Financial and insurance activities" representing the main economic activity, generating 27.5% of total gross value added.