EU industrial structure - EU Bookshop - Europa

Chapter III
Drivers of Sector Growth
and Competitiveness
This chapter analyses economic growth in the EU from
a sectoral perspective. Section III.1 focuses on growth in output
by sectors. Industrial performance is analysed from a long‑term
perspective aiming at capturing main trends in sectoral
developments. Section III.2 presents indicators of sectoral
competitiveness using: labour productivity and unit labour
costs (ULC). These indicators are used to make comparisons
across sectors in the EU. The focus in Section III.3 shifts to
indicators for various factors of production: labour inputs,
human capital, capital formation, energy and technology.
Finally, Section III.4 examines sectoral growth from the demand
side, by analysing private consumption and investment.
III.1 Output growth across sectors
Growth varies considerably across EU sectors. Value
added in EU sectors grew on average by 2.4 % during
1995‑2009. Services activities were among the fastest
growing, confirming the dynamism of market services
highlighted in Section II.1. Transport, storage and
communication increased on average by 3.9 %, financial
intermediation by 3.6 %, real estate, renting and business
activities by 3.3 % and wholesale and retail trade
by 2.6 %. Nonetheless, the sector that outpaced all others
was a manufacturing sector; manufacture of electrical
and optical equipment which, on average, rose by 6%
during 1995‑2009. While the manufacturing sectors
on average grew slightly less than the EU economy
as a whole, 2.2 % annual growth against 2.4 % annual
growth on average, the manufacturing sectors chemicals,
transport equipment, rubber and plastics, and machinery
and equipment n.e.c. performed better than EU economy
as a whole. Value added declined in the following sectors:
fishing, mining and quarrying sectors, textiles, and
leather, cf. Figure III.1.
57