According to the first preliminary data for 2023 from the economic accounts for agriculture (EAA), the index of agricultural labour productivity in the EU is estimated to have decreased year-on-year by 6.6%, after growth between 2019 and 2022. This downturn was underpinned by a 7.9% decrease in the real value of the income generated by units […]
EU expenditure on R&D reaches €352 billion in 2022
In 2022, the EU spent €352 billion on research & development (R&D), 6.34% more than in the previous year (€331 billion) and 48.52% more than in 2012 (€237 billion). When looking at R&D intensity, i.e. R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP, data show a slight decrease from 2.27% in 2021 to 2.22% in 2022. […]
The Spanish fishing fleet fished more than a fifth of the European Union’s catches in 2022
The total EU fish catch in 2022 was about 3.4 million tonnes of live weight from the seven marine areas covered by EU statistics. Spain’s fishing fleet exceeded one-fifth of all EU catches (22%; 752 000 tonnes), followed by France (15%; 517 000 tonnes) and Denmark (13%; 459 000 tonnes). About 70% of the total […]
Subjective poverty in the European Union is higher among people with lower educational attainment
In 2022, almost one third (29.5%) of the EU population with a low educational attainment level (International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), levels 0-2) was considered poor. The rate was more than 3 times lower (9.2%) for people with high education (ISCED levels 5-8) while the share for people with a medium educational attainment level (ISCED levels 3 […]
Spain, together with Italy, was the largest wine exporter in the European Union in 2022
In 2022, sold production of wine (including sparkling wine, port and grape must) in the EU amounted to 16.1 billion (bn) litres. The top three wine producers accounted for 83% of EU production. Italy and Spain each contributed nearly 5.0 bn litres, representing together 62% of the total sold production in the EU, while France produced 3.4 […]
Eurostat: Business start-ups in the European Union increased in 2021
In 2021, the rate of enterprise births in the EU was 10.7% while the preliminary rate of enterprise deaths stood at 8.5%. In most EU countries more companies were created than dissolved. The exceptions to this were Estonia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Poland, Denmark and Germany where the number of enterprises dissolved surpassed the number of companies created. This information comes […]
Eurostat: Plastic bag use continues to fall in the European Union
In 2021, each person living in the EU consumed on average 77 lightweight plastic carrier bags (LPCBs), which is 11 bags less per person, compared with 2020. Overall, 34.2 billion (bn) lightweight plastic carrier bags were consumed in the EU in 2021 (-4.8 bn bags compared with 2020). This information comes from data on lightweight plastic carrier bags published by Eurostat […]
Eurostat: Income inequality across the EU
In 2022, the median equivalised disposable income in the EU was 18 706 purchasing power standards (PPS) per inhabitant, increasing from 18 011 PPS recorded in 2021. At the national level, the EU countries with the highest median disposable incomes in 2022 were Luxembourg (33 214 PPS), the Netherlands (25 437 PPS), Austria (25 119 PPS), Belgium (24 142 PPS), Denmark (23 244 PPS) and Germany (23 197 PPS). […]
Eurostat records changes in employment rates in the EU
The EU employment rate in 2022 reached its historical high at 74.6 %, however, when examining regional data, significant differences emerge beneath the EU average. The EU employment rate in 2022 reached its historical high at 74.6 %, however, when examining regional data, significant differences emerge beneath the EU average. The highest regional employment rate among NUTS 2 regions in 2022 was recorded […]