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Archive:Office administrative, office support and other business support activities statistics - NACE Rev. 2

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Data from April 2012. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.

This article presents an overview of statistics for office administrative, office support and other business support activities in the European Union (EU), as covered by NACE Rev. 2 Division 82; hereafter referred to as office and business support activities.

Table 1: Key indicators, office administrative, office support and other business support activities (NACE Division 82), EU-27, 2009 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Figure 1: Sectoral breakdown of office administrative, office support and other business support activities (NACE Division 82), EU-27, 2009 (1)
(% share of sectoral total) - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 2a: Sectoral breakdown of key indicators, office administrative, office support and other business support activities (NACE Division 82), EU-27, 2009 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 2b: Sectoral breakdown of key indicators, office administrative, office support and other business support activities (NACE Division 82), EU-27, 2009 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 3: Largest and most specialised Member States in office administrative, office support and other business support activities (NACE Division 82), EU-27, 2009 (1) - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 4a: Key indicators, office administrative, office support and other business support activities (NACE Division 82), 2009 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 4b: Key indicators, office administrative, office support and other business support activities (NACE Division 82), 2009 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)

Main statistical findings

Structural profile

There were 362 thousand enterprises operating in the office and business support activities (Division 82) sector in the EU-27 in 2009. Together they employed 1.86 million persons, equivalent to 1.4 % of the non-financial business economy (Sections B to J and L to N and Division 95) workforce or 15.4 % of those employed in administrative and support services (Section N). The office and business support activities sector generated EUR 67 000 million of value added which was 1.2 % of the non-financial business economy total or nearly one fifth (19.1 %) of the administrative and support services total.

The apparent labour productivity of the EU-27's office and business support activities sector in 2009 was EUR 36 thousand of value added per person employed, which although below the non-financial business economy average of EUR 41.6 thousand was higher than the administrative and support services average of EUR 29 thousand. Average personnel costs within the EU-27’s office and business support activities sector were, at EUR 28.9 thousand per employee, also slightly lower than the average for the whole of the non-financial business economy (EUR 30.0 thousand per employee), but some EUR 8 thousand higher than the administrative and support services average. The wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio which combines these two previous indicators and shows the extent to which value added per person employed covers average personnel costs per employee stood at 126.1 % for the EU-27’s office and business support activities sector in 2009, which was below the averages registered for the non-financial business economy (138.8 %) and administrative and support services (139.1 %).

The gross operating rate which shows the relationship between the gross operating surplus and turnover) is one measure of profitability; it stood at 12.0% for the EU-27’s office and business support activities sector in 2009, which was 2.3 percentage points above the non-financial business economy average, but 3.2 percentage points lower than the average rate for administrative and support services.

Sectoral analysis

Almost three out of every four (72.4 %) of the enterprises within the EU-27’s office and business support activities sector in 2009 were classified within business support service activities (Group 82.9). The second largest subsector in terms of enterprises was office administrative and support activities (Group 82.1), with a 16.9 % share. This was slightly more than double the enterprise share recorded for the organisation of conventions and trade shows (Group 82.3), while the smallest number of enterprises (2.1 % of the sectoral total) was registered for the activities of call centres (Group 82.2).

The analysis of value added for the EU-27’s office and business support activities sector in 2009 confirmed the position of business support service activities as the largest subsector, as it accounted for 69.7 % of sectoral value added. The share of value added for the activities of call centres was 14.8 %, clearly above those of the two other subsectors – which were quite similar – 8.2 % for the organisation of conventions and trade shows and 6.9 % for office administrative and support activities.

The pattern observed for value added was reinforced when analysing the breakdown of the EU-27’s office and business support activities workforce. The relative weight of business support service activities was lower still (61.8 %) and the difference was taken up by the activities of call centres, whose share in sectoral employment reached 22.5 %.

These differences in the relative weights of each subsector according to whichever measure of size was being analysed were, as a consequence, also apparent when analysing the average employment size of enterprises within the EU-27’s office and business support activities sector. Enterprises whose principal activity was that of call centres averaged employment of 54.8 persons in 2009. The average size of enterprises was much lower for the three remaining subsectors: for the business support service activities subsector and the organisation of conventions and trade shows subsector the average was 4.4 persons employed per enterprise; for the office administrative and support activities subsector this ratio was 2.6 persons per enterprise.

There were also relatively large differences in relation to apparent labour productivity – which is based upon the average value added generated by members of the workforce. EU-27 apparent labour productivity across the four subsectors that compose the office and business support activities sector peaked in 2009 at EUR 41 thousand per person employed for business support service activities, just EUR 0.6 thousand lower than the non-financial business economy average. Apparent labour productivity for the organisation of conventions and trade shows was also relatively close to the non-financial business economy average, at EUR 39 thousand of value added per person employed. This contrasted with the apparent labour productivity of the office administrative and support activities subsector (EUR 29 thousand) and the activities of call centres subsector (EUR 24 thousand).

EU-27 average personnel costs per employee peaked in 2009 at EUR 32.1 thousand per employee for the organisation of conventions and trade shows, which was just ahead of business support service activities (EUR 31.2 thousand) and office administrative and support activities (EUR 29.4 thousand); all three of these values were closely situated around the non-financial business economy average of EUR 30.0 per employee. The call centres subsector was therefore something of an exception, as its average personnel costs were much lower, at EUR 22.2 thousand per employee.

The combination of the previous two indicators results in the wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio. This was relatively low for all four subsectors within the EU-27’s office and business support activities sector in 2009 and consistently below the non-financial business economy average (138.8 %). Wage-adjusted labour productivity ratios varied from a high of 130.0 % for the business support service activities subsector down to 97.6 % for office administrative and support activities – where the value added generated per person employed did not cover average personnel costs per employee.

For the gross operating rate, the EU-27’s office administrative and support activities subsector (12.9 %) and the business support service activities subsector (14.3 %) both posted gross profitability rates that were above the non-financial business economy average (9.7 %) in 2009. The profitability (based on this measure) of the organisation of conventions and trade shows subsector (9.3 %) was close to the non-financial business economy average, while call centres posted a relatively low gross operating rate (5.0 %).

Country analysis

Just over one quarter (25.3 %) of the EU-27’s value added within the office and business support activities sector in 2009 was generated in the United Kingdom. Value added in the United Kingdom was EUR 16 926 million, while Germany and France were the only other Member States to record figures above EUR 10 000. The United Kingdom was also the Member State with the highest degree of specialisation in this sector, in value added terms, as its office and business support activities sector contributed 2.0 % of non-financial business economy value added (compared with an EU-27 average of 1.2 %). France and Portugal were also relatively specialised in office and business support activities, as this sector provided 1.5 % of their non-financial business economy added value.

An analysis of the number of persons employed shows that Germany had by far the largest workforce among the Member States, as the 420.7 thousand persons engaged within the office and business support activities sector represented 22.6 % of the EU-27 total. This was considerably higher than for the remaining Member States, as the United Kingdom (15.6 %), Italy (13.9 %), Spain (12.7 %) and France (12.0 %) were the only other countries to record double-digit shares of the EU-27 total; these five Member States jointly accounted for in excess of three quarters of the office and business support activities workforce.

Most Member States reported relatively low apparent labour productivity for the office and business support activities sector in 2009, with productivity levels below their non-financial business economy averages. The only countries to break this pattern were Cyprus, Latvia, Slovakia and the United Kingdom; for the latter, apparent labour productivity was almost one quarter higher than the non-financial business economy average. The United Kingdom also recorded the highest level of apparent labour productivity within the office and business support activities sector, at EUR 58.5 thousand of added value per person employed in 2009.

Slovakia and the Netherlands were the only Member States to report a wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio for the office and business support activities sector that was higher than their national average for the non-financial business economy in 2009 (and this by no more than 5 %). Slovakia also recorded the highest level of wage-adjusted labour productivity at 172.3 %. In contrast, there were three Member States where wage-adjusted labour productivity ratios for the office and business support activities sector were below 100 %, indicating that the value added generated per person employed did not cover average personnel costs per employee. The difference in Italy was minimal, as the ratio stood at 99.5 %, however, the wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio was considerably lower in Slovenia (88.9 %) and even more so in Sweden (74.1 %).

There was a wide range in gross operating rates between the Member States for the office and business support activities sector in 2009, ranging from a high of 19.8 % for the United Kingdom to a low of -10.2 % for Sweden; the negative rate that was recorded in Sweden resulted from total personnel costs exceeding the added value that was generated in the office and business support activities sector. In the majority of the Member States, the gross operating rate for the office and business support activities sector was higher than for the non-financial business economy as a whole; this pattern held true for 16 of the Member States for which data are available. Among the seven exceptions, Spain, Ireland and Sweden were the only countries where the profitability of the office and business support activities sector was considerably lower than for the non-financial business economy as a whole.

Data sources and availability

The analysis presented in this article is based on the main dataset for structural business statistics (SBS) which are disseminated annually. The series provides information for each 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.

Context

This article presents an overview of statistics for the office and business support activities sector in the EU, as covered by NACE Rev. 2 Division 82. This division includes the provision of a range of day-to-day office administrative services, as well as ongoing routine business support functions for others, on a contract or fee basis. This division also includes all support service activities typically provided to businesses not elsewhere classified.

Combined office administrative service activities include the provision of a combination of day-to-day office administrative services, such as reception, financial planning, billing and record keeping, personnel and mail services for others on a contract or fee basis. Photocopying, document preparation and other specialised office support activities concerns a variety of specialised office support activities, such as typing and word processing, secretarial support services, letter or resumé writing, or the provision of mailbox rental.

Activities of call centres include both inbound call centres (answering calls) and outbound call centres (to sell or market goods or services to potential customers), regardless of whether these use human operators, automatic call distribution, computer telephone integration, interactive voice response systems or similar methods.

The organisation of conventions and trade shows also includes the organisation, promotion and/or management of events, such as business and trade shows, conventions, conferences and meetings, whether or not including the management and provision of the staff to operate the facilities in which these events take place.

Activities of collection agencies and credit bureaus include the collection of payments for claims and their remittance to clients, such as bill or debt collection services. Also included are the activities of compiling information, such as credit and employment histories of individuals and credit histories of businesses, and providing this information to financial institutions, retailers, or others who have a need to evaluate the creditworthiness of people and businesses. Packaging activities may be performed on a fee or contract basis and include the bottling of liquids (for example, beverages and food), the packaging of solids (blister packaging, foil-covered and so on), security packaging of pharmaceutical preparations, labelling, stamping and imprinting, parcel-packing and gift-wrapping. Other business support service activities not elsewhere classified include a wide range of support activities, including: verbatim reporting and stenotype recording of live legal proceedings and transcribing subsequent recorded materials; real-time (simultaneous) closed captioning of live television performances of meetings or conferences; address bar coding services; bar code imprinting services; fundraising organisation services on a contract or fee basis; repossession services; parking meter coin collection services; activities of independent auctioneers; the administration of loyalty programmes; other support activities typically provided to businesses not elsewhere classified.

This NACE Division is composed of four Groups:

  • office administrative and support activities (Group 82.1);
  • activities of call centres (Group 82.2);
  • organisation of conventions and trade shows (Group 82.3);
  • business support service activities n.e.c. (Group 82.9).

The provision of operating staff to carry out the complete operations of a business is excluded from the activities covered in this article, as is the provision of a single (only one) particular aspect of these operations. Also excluded from this division are the printing of documents (offset printing, quick printing and so on) and pre-press services (which are part of the printing and reproduction of recorded media, Division 18), the manufacture of soft drinks and production of mineral water (which are part of the manufacture of beverages, Division 11) and packaging activities incidental to transport (which are part of warehousing and support activities for transportation, Division 52).

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)
Preliminary results on services, main indicators (NACE Rev.2) (sbs_sc_r2preli)
SMEs - Annual enterprise statistics broken down by size classes - services (sbs_sc_sc)
Services broken down by employment size classes (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

Methodology / Metadata

Source data for tables, figures and maps (MS Excel)

Other information

External links

See also

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