Archive:Legal and accounting services statistics - NACE Rev. 2
- Data from April 2012. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.
This article presents an overview of statistics for legal and accounting services in the European Union (EU), as covered by NACE Rev. 2 Division 69.
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(% share of sectoral total) - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
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Main statistical findings
Structural profile
Almost one million enterprises operated in the legal and accounting services sector (Division 69) in the EU-27 in 2009. Together they employed 3.3 million persons, estimated to be around 2.5 % of the non-financial business economy (Sections B to J and L to N and Division 95) workforce and 30.3 % of those persons employed within professional, scientific and technical activities (Section M). The value added generated by the EU-27’s legal and accounting services was EUR 156 941 million in 2009, approximately 2.8 % of the non-financial business economy total and 30.1 % of the professional, scientific and technical activities total. As such, based on value added and employment measures, this sector was the largest among the seven NACE divisions within professional, scientific and technical activities.
The apparent labour productivity of the EU-27's legal and accounting services sector in 2009 was EUR 47 thousand of value added per person employed, the same as the professional, scientific and technical activities average and above the non-financial business economy average of EUR 41.6 thousand per person employed. Average personnel costs were EUR 35.2 thousand per employee, midway between the non-financial business economy average (EUR 30.0 thousand per employee) and the professional, scientific and technical activities average (EUR 40.5 thousand per employee). 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, was 133.7 % for the EU-27's legal and accounting services in 2009. This was somewhat below the non-financial business economy average of 138.8 % but, due to the lower average personnel costs, was well above the 117.0 % average for professional, scientific and technical activities average.
The gross operating rate, which is the relation between the gross operating surplus and turnover, is a measure of operating profitability and was 32.5 % for the EU-27’s legal and accounting services sector in 2009. This rate was around 3.4 times as high as the non-financial business economy average (9.7 %) and around 1.8 times as high as the professional, scientific and technical activities average (17.8 %). This was the highest level of operating profitability (using this measure) for the EU-27 in 2009 among the seven NACE divisions within the professional, scientific and technical activities and the fourth highest among all NACE divisions within the non-financial business economy.
Sectoral analysis
The legal and accounting services sector is composed of two groups, namely legal activities (Group 69.1) and accounting, bookkeeping and auditing activities and tax consultancy (Group 69.2). In the EU-27 these two subsectors contributed very similar levels of value added but employment was much greater for accounting, bookkeeping and auditing activities and tax consultancy – see Figure 1.
The relatively high EU-27 apparent labour productivity figure for the whole of the legal and accounting services sector in 2009 was pulled upwards by the legal activities subsector where the apparent labour productivity was EUR 56 thousand per person employed; for accounting, bookkeeping and auditing activities and tax consultancy, the apparent labour productivity was EUR 41 thousand per person employed, broadly in line with the non-financial business economy average (EUR 41.6 thousand).
Despite having higher apparent labour productivity, the legal activities subsector had slightly lower average personnel costs than the accounting, bookkeeping and auditing activities and tax consultancy subsector in the EU-27, although average personnel costs per employee remained above the non-financial business economy average in 2009. The combination of higher apparent labour productivity and lower average personnel costs resulted in a much higher wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio for the EU-27’s legal activities subsector (161.2 %) than for the accounting, bookkeeping and auditing activities and tax consultancy subsector (114.6 %). For the legal activities subsector the wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio was above the non-financial business economy average (138.8 %), whereas for the accounting, bookkeeping and auditing activities and tax consultancy subsector it was below the professional, scientific and technical activities average (117.0 %).
A large difference in the two subsector’s EU-27 gross operating rates was also observed in 2009, although both subsectors recorded relatively high rates. The 24.8 % rate that was recorded for the accounting, bookkeeping and auditing activities and tax consultancy subsector was above the professional, scientific and technical activities average (17.8 %), while the 40.8 % rate for the legal activities subsector was the fourth highest among all of the NACE groups within the non-financial business economy in 2009.
Country analysis
The largest legal and accounting services sector among the EU Member States in 2009 was in the United Kingdom which contributed 23.2 % of EU-27 value added. This large share was boosted by the United Kingdom’s 26.2 % share of EU-27 value added in the legal activities subsector; the United Kingdom’s 20.2 % share of EU-27 value added in the accounting, bookkeeping and auditing activities and tax consultancy subsector was the second largest share behind Germany (20.9 %).
In relative terms, Luxembourg was the most specialised Member State in 2009 for both subsectors, as 10.1 % of non-financial business economy value added in Luxembourg was derived from legal and accounting services, split 6.5 % for the accounting, bookkeeping and auditing activities and tax consultancy subsector and 3.6 % for legal activities. The level of specialisation in these services in Luxembourg was far greater than in any other Member State, as the next most specialised Member States, namely Cyprus and the United Kingdom, generated less than 5 % of their non-financial business economy value added in the legal and accounting services sector. Romania was the least specialised Member State with respect to legal and accounting services, as this sector contributed 0.5 % of Romanian non-financial business economy value added in 2009.
A majority of the Member States recorded wage-adjusted labour productivity ratios for legal and accounting services that were below their non-financial business economy average. The largest difference was in Hungary, where the wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio for the legal and accounting services sector was 88.4 % compared with a non-financial business economy average of 160.1 %; this was the only Member State where the wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio for this sector was below 100 % in 2009. In contrast, Portugal recorded a wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio of 187.8 % for legal and accounting services and this was 31.3 percentage points above the average Portuguese ratio for the whole of the non-financial business economy (156.5 %).
The high gross operating rate observed across the EU-27 for the legal and accounting services sector in 2009 was repeated for all Member States. The highest rate was 43.8 % in Italy, which was 4.8 times as high as the average rate for the Italian non-financial business economy. The second highest gross operating rate in the legal and accounting services sector in 2009 was 39.0 % in Ireland, which was the highest gross operating rate recorded in Ireland among all of the NACE divisions in the non-financial business economy in 2009. As was the case for the wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio, Hungary recorded the lowest gross operating rate for legal and accounting services among the Member States, but the 13.4 % rate for this sector was well above the average rate of 8.4 % that was recorded for the whole of the Hungarian non-financial business economy.
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 legal and accounting services sector in the EU, as covered by NACE Rev. 2 Division 69.
Legal activities include legal representation of one party's interest against another party, such as advice and representation in civil cases, criminal actions, and labour disputes. It also includes preparation of legal documents, such as articles of incorporation, partnership agreements or similar documents in connection with company formation, patents and copyrights, preparation of deeds, wills, trusts and so on, as well as other activities of notaries, bailiffs, arbitrators, examiners and referees.
Accounting, bookkeeping, auditing and tax consultancy activities include the recording of commercial transactions, the preparation or auditing of financial accounts, the examination of accounts and certification of their accuracy, the preparation of personal and business income tax returns, as well as advisory activities and representation (other than legal representation) on behalf of clients before tax authorities.
This NACE division is composed of two classes organised into two groups:
- legal activities (Group 69.1);
- accounting, bookkeeping and auditing activities; tax consultancy (Group 69.2).
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)
- Annual detailed enterprise statistics - services (sbs_na_serv)
- 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, figures and maps (MS Excel)
Other information
- Decision 1578/2007/EC of 11 December 2007 on the Community Statistical Programme 2008 to 2012
- Regulation 295/2008 of 11 March 2008 concerning structural business statistics