The shift towards a service economy is a long-term trend already observed in the EU in the second half of the 20th century. In 2018, employment in services accounted for 74 % of total employment in the EU compared with 66 % in 2000, while employment in industry decreased from 26 % in 2000 to 22 % in 2018 and agriculture halved from 8 % to 4 %. As regards value added, services generated 73 % of total value added in 2018, industry 25 % and agriculture 2 %.
Among the Member States, the share of agricultural employment in 2018 was the highest in Romania (23 % of total employment), Bulgaria (18 %), Greece (11 %) and Poland (10 %), while the highest shares for industrial employment were observed in Czechia (37 %), Slovakia (32 %), Poland (31 %), Romania and Slovenia (both 30 %). Service activities represented 80 % of total employment or just over in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Malta, France, Luxembourg and Denmark.
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