(Brussels, 27 May 2011) The CIAA (Confederation of food and drink industries of the EU) today released its annual facts and figures report entitled, “Data & trends of the European Food and Drink Industry 2010”.

As one of Europe’s most diverse industries with over 310,000 companies and a total revenue of €954 billion, this year’s report contains key statistics providing a comprehensive picture of the structure and economics of the food and drink industry in the European Union.

Employment

The food and drink industry is the EU’s single largest manufacturing sector in terms of turnover and employment in the EU.

4.2 million people are employed by the industry directly. A stable 13.5% share in manufacturing in terms of employment makes the industry a leading employer in the EU.  Given the local nature of the food and drink industry’s business in Europe, jobs in the sector help to generate wealth throughout local communities. 

Structure of the industry

The food and drink industry is the second leading manufacturing sector in the EU in terms of value added (2%) and number of companies.

Significantly, small and medium size enterprises (SME’s) represent 99.1% of food and drink companies and generate almost half of industry turnover (48.2%), while directly employing 62.8% of the sector’s workforce.

Medium-sized companies (between 50 and 249 employees) represent only 3.6% of food and drink companies but are noted for their contribution to 27% of food and drink turnover and generating 25% of jobs in the sector. 

Trade - Imports/Exports

The EU is the world’s largest exporter and importer in food and drink products worldwide. As such, the European food and drink industry exported products to the value of €53.7 billion in 2009, of which €20 billion were highly processed agricultural products.  In terms of trade to non-EU countries: (i) beverages, (ii) meat processing industries, (iii) dairy and (iv) various food products (including chocolate, biscuits, confectionery products, pasta, prepared meals, etc.) account for approximately 80% of EU food and drink exports.

However, the EU share of global exports of food and drink products has been slowly declining over the last years (from 20.4% in 2000 to 18.6% in 2009), mostly to the benefit of a few emerging economies: China, Brazil, Malaysia, Indonesia and Argentina.

Moreover, the value of overall EU trade in food and drink products contracted by 11% between 2008 and 2009 due to the combined effects of shrinking demand, lower commodity prices and appreciation of Euro.

Significantly, key data on R&D and innovation worldwide indicates that food and drink companies have maintained similar levels of R&D investment and continue to display resilience in economic crisis. Positively, a ranking of leading international food companies in terms of global food and drink sales highlights EU companies ranked among the top food and drink companies globally. 

The Data & Trends report provides in depth analysis of the ‘Structure of the Industry’, ‘Trade with non-EU countries’, ‘Markets and Consumption’ and ‘World Trends’.  It is available for download here.

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