Among the non-energy extractive industries, the construction minerals sector is the largest one. It has the highest tonnage of extracted minerals, the greatest number of companies and employees, and the largest turnover. Typical construction minerals are aggregates (sand, gravel, and crushed natural stone), various brick clays, gypsum, and natural ornamental or dimension stone. The demand for construction minerals is generally high. The sector mainly consists of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating over 20,000 extraction sites that supply local and regional markets.
Eurostat records data on construction minerals can be found under NACE codes CB14.1 and CB14.21.
Almost all the European legislation affecting the industry was not developed with the specific requirements of the extractive industry as a key objective. The only policy communications developed specifically for the extractive industry are: