Hungarian industryʼs share of economy 5th highest in EU

BBJ

In 2016, industry remained the largest economic activity in the European Union (EU) in terms of output, according to a report on output of economic activities in the EU Member States by Eurostat, the European Commissionʼs directorate-general for statistics. Hungary was one of nine states where industry was the leading economic activity.

In 2016, the category of "Industry (except construction)" accounted for 19.4% of EU total gross value added (GVA), immediately ahead of the economic activities classified as "Wholesale and retail trade, transport, accommodation and food services" (19.0%) and "Public administration, defense, education, human health and social work activities" (18.8%). "Real estate activities" (11.4%) and "Professional, scientific and technical activities" (11.0%) also accounted for major shares of EU total GVA.

The respective shares of these economic activities have, however, followed diverging trends over the last 20 years, according to the report by Eurostat. The percentage of GVA generated grew in "Professional, scientific and technical activities" (from 8.7% in 1996 to 11.0% in 2016, or +2.3 percentage points), "Information and communication" and "Real estate activities" (both up 0.9 pps), and "Public administration, defense, education, human health and social work activities" (+0.8 pps).

Meanwhile, the share of "Wholesale and retail trade, transport, accommodation and food services" remained fairly stable at around 19% of the total.

In contrast, the share of industry decreased significantly over 20 years (from 22.9% in 1996, to 19.4% in 2016, or -3.5 pps).

In nine of the EU Member States, "Industry" came first among economic activities in 2016: Ireland (36.6%) led the way, followed by the Czech Republic (32.1%), Slovenia (27.1%), Slovakia (26.9%), Hungary (26.8%), Poland (26.5%), Germany and Romania (both 25.7%) and Bulgaria (24.4%).

In 12 EU Member States, "Wholesale and retail trade, transport, accommodation and food services" was the biggest economic activity in terms of GVA generated in 2016. The highest shares were recorded in Lithuania (32.2% of total GVA), Latvia (25.4%), Cyprus (25.2%), Portugal and Poland (both 25.1%).

"Public administration, defense, education, human health and social work activities" was the main economic activity in terms of GVA in France (22.7%), Belgium (22.3%) and the Netherlands (21.4%), as well as in the three EU Nordic Member States – Denmark (22.3%), Sweden (21.5%) and Finland (21.3%).

Luxembourg stood out with "Financial and insurance activities" representing its main economic activity, generating 27.3% of total gross value added in that country.