In 2020, ‘public administration, defence, education, human health and social work activities’ became the most significant economic activities in the EU. These activities accounted for 19.8% of EU total gross value added (GVA), overtaking ‘industry (except construction)’ (19.5%) and ‘wholesale and retail trade, transport, accommodation and food service activities’ (17.9%).
At the other end of the scale, the least significant economic activities in the EU were ‘agriculture, forestry and fishing’ (1.8%), followed by ‘arts, entertainment and recreation; other service activities; activities of household and extra-territorial organizations and bodies’ (3.0%).
Source dataset: nama_10_a10
When comparing the shares of GVA in 2020 with 2019, ‘wholesale and retail trade, transport, accommodation and food service activities’ took the biggest hit in the share of EU total GVA (from 19.3% in 2019 to 17.9% in 2020; -1.4 percentage points), followed by ‘industry (except construction)’ (from 19.9% to 19.5%; -0.4 pp) and ‘arts, entertainment and recreation; other service activities; activities of household and extra-territorial organizations and bodies’ (from 3.3% to 3.0%; -0.3 pp).
By contrast, the percentage of GVA generated by ‘public administration, defence, education, human health and social work activities’ increased from 18.7% in 2019 to 19.8% in 2020 (+1.1 pp). These were followed by ‘real estate activities’ (from 10.8% to 11.3%; +0.5 pp) and ‘information and communication’ (from 5.1% to 5.5%; +0.4 pp).
In real terms, the total GVA generated by the economic activities in the EU in 2020 was 5.9% lower than in 2019.
For more information:
• Eurostat Statistics Explained article on national accounts and GDP
• Eurostat dedicated section on national accounts
• Eurostat database on national accounts
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