Statistics Explained

Archive:Repair of personal and household goods statistics - NACE Rev. 1.1

Data from January 2009, most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database

This article belongs to a set of statistical articles which analyse the structure, development and characteristics of the various economic activities in the European Union (EU). According to the statistical classification of economic activities in the EU (NACE Rev 1.1), the present article covers the repair of personal and household goods, corresponding to NACE Group 52.7, which is part of the retail trade and repair sector. The activities covered in this article are the repairing of:

  • footwear;
  • electrical goods;
  • clocks and watches;
  • piano-tuning.

This article covers specialist repairers only, and excludes enterprises that carry out repair as a secondary activity in combination with other activities.

Table 1: Repair of personal and household goods (NACE Group 52.7). Structural profile, EU-27, 2006

Main statistical findings

Table 2: Repair of personal and household goods (NACE Group 52.7). Structural profile: ranking of top five Member States in terms of value added and persons employed, 2006

The repair of personal and household goods sector (NACE Group 52.7) differs from all of the other activities in the retail trade and repair sector in that it is not a retail activity, and as such does not consist in buying and selling goods. Within the EU-27 this sector had a population of 135.7 thousand enterprises in 2006 which employed 255.3 thousand persons and generated EUR 4.8 billion of value added, with tangible investment valued at EUR 311.9 million. By all of these measures this was the second smallest sector within retail trade and repair (NACE Division 52), larger only than the retail sale of second-hand goods in stores.

An analysis at the NACE class level shows that the repair of electrical household goods (NACE Class 52.72) and the miscellaneous activity of repair not elsewhere classified (NACE Class 52.74) were the two largest subsectors, together responsible for around four fifths of the sector's value added and employment in the EU-27.

Of the five largest Member States, the United Kingdom had the smallest workforce in the repair of personal and household goods sector, but generated the most value added. However, none of the larger Member States [1] were particularly specialised in this sector, and only Greece and Cyprus generated 0.2 % or more of their non-financial business economy value added through the repair of personal and household goods.

The wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio for the EU-27’s repair of personal and household goods sector was 101.1 % in 2006, indicating that apparent labour productivity was only marginally higher than average personnel costs. This was the second lowest wage adjusted labour productivity ratio among all of the non-financial business economy NACE groups (with 2005 or 2006 data available), higher only than for retail sales not in stores). In only 12 of the Member States [2] for which data are available was the wage adjusted labour productivity ratio for these activities above 100 %.

Data sources and availability

The main part of the analysis in this article is derived from structural business statistics (SBS), including core, business statistics which are disseminated regularly, as well as information compiled on a multi-yearly basis, and the latest results from development projects.

Context

Retailing is typically the final stage of distribution between producers and consumers. Since the development of the Internet, there has been an increasing use of commerce via the web. As such, there has been a gradual shift from traditional methods of purchasing from stores or markets to purchasing remotely. According to Eurostat’s information society statistics, some 12 % of the turnover of distributive trades (including motor trades (NACE Division 50) and wholesale trades (NACE Division 51), as well as retail trade and repair) enterprises with ten or more persons employed was derived from e-commerce in 2008. According to the same source, one quarter of the EU-27’s population ordered or bought goods or services for private use through the Internet in 2008 (during the three months preceding the survey). Note that these figures refer to goods and services supplied to individuals by all sectors of the economy, not just enterprises that are specialised in retail sales.

In October 2008, the European Commission put forward a proposal COM(2008) 614 for a Directive on consumer rights, to try to make purchases easier and safer, whether in-store or not. The proposal covers the provision of price information, protection against late delivery and non delivery, as well as setting out rights on issues such as cooling-off periods, returns, refunds, repairs and guarantees and unfair contract term.

Further Eurostat information

Publications

Main tables

Database

Dedicated section

Other information

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Bulgaria, Cyprus, Poland and Romania, 2005; Malta, not available.
  2. ↑ Bulgaria and Poland, 2005; Malta, not available.
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