Transportation and storage statistics - NACE Rev. 2

From Statistics Explained

Data from June 2011, most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database

This article presents an overview of statistics for European Union (EU) transportation and storage services, covering NACE Rev. 2 Section H. Transportation services concerns passenger and freight transport, whether scheduled or not, regardless of the transport mode, and include postal and courier services. As well as warehousing and storage, this sector also includes transport support activities such as terminal and parking facilities (bus and train stations, harbours, airfields, car parks), infrastructure operation (such as rail networks, waterway locks, roads, bridges, tunnels, air traffic control), support services (towing, shunting, berthing, pilotage), cargo handling and freight forwarding. The sector is mainly structured according to the transport mode, with separate divisions for warehousing and support activities for transportation, as well as for postal and courier activities:

Table 1: Key indicators, transportation and storage (NACE Section H), EU-27, 2008
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)

Figure 1: Sectoral breakdown of activity, EU-27, 2008 (1)
(% share of value added and employment within transportation and storage (NACE Section H))
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)

Table 2: Sectoral breakdown of expenditure, productivity and profitability, transportation and storage (NACE Section H), EU-27, 2008
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)

Figure 2: Relative importance of transportation and storage (NACE Section H), 2008 (1)
(% share of value added and employment in the non-financial business economy total)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)

Figure 3: Concentration of value added and employment, transportation and storage (NACE Section H), 2008
(cumulative share of the five principal Member States as a % of the EU-27 total)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)

Table 3: Principal Member States and most specialised Member States, transportation and storage (NACE Section H), 2008 (1)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)

Table 4: Key indicators, transportation and storage (NACE Section H), 2008
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)

Table 5: Key regional indicators, transportation and storage (NACE Section H), 2008 (1)
(top 20 NUTS 2 regions, based on % share of non-financial business economy workforce)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_r_nuts06_r2)

Figure 4: Degree of regional employment specialisation, transportation and storage (NACE Section H), 2008 (1)
(% share of non-financial business economy workforce by NUTS 2 region)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_r_nuts06_r2)

Table 6: Sectoral breakdown of regional employment, transportation and storage (NACE Section H), 2008 (1)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_r_nuts06_r2)

Figure 5: Relative importance of enterprise size classes, transportation and storage (NACE Section H), EU-27, 2008 (size of bubble is proportional to the % share of size class in sectoral value added)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_1b_se_r2)

Table 7: Key size class indicators, transportation and storage (NACE Section H), EU-27, 2008
Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_1b_se_r2)

Figure 6: Sectoral breakdown of value added by enterprise size class, transportation and storage (NACE Section H), EU-27, 2008 (1)
(% share of sectoral value added)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_1b_se_r2)

Figure 7: Sectoral breakdown of employment by enterprise size class, transportation and storage (NACE Section H), EU-27, 2008 (1)
(% share of sectoral employment)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_1b_se_r2)

Table 8: Number of enterprises by enterprise size class, transportation and storage (NACE Section H), 2008
Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_1b_se_r2)

land transport by rail, road and pipeline (Division 49);
sea and coastal water transport and inland water transport of freight and passengers (Division 50);
passenger air transport as well as freight air transport and space transport (Division 51);
warehousing and support activities for transportation (Division 52);
postal and courier activities (Division 53).

The sector does not include the major repair or alteration of transport equipment which is part of repair activities within manufacturing (Section C), nor the construction, maintenance and repair of transport networks (such as roads and railways) or terminals (such as harbours and airfields) which is part of construction (Section F). Travel agencies and tour operators are covered in the article on administrative and support service activities (Section M). Training in the operation of transport equipment is considered as an education activity, while the operation of marinas is considered part of sports activities and amusement and recreation activities.

The transportation and storage services sector focuses on transport services provided to clients for hire and reward. When analysing transport traffic volumes (for example, tonnes of freight) it is important to bear in mind that these include own account transport as well as transport services for hire and reward. This is particularly important in road transport where, for example, a manufacturer might collect materials or deliver own output, rather than contracting a transport service enterprise to do this and equally, the use of own vehicles (typically passenger cars) accounts for a very large part of passenger transport. Such own account transport does not contribute towards the statistics on the transportation and storage services sector.

Main statistical findings

Structural profile

In 2008 there were around 1.1 million enterprises in the transportation and storage sector in the EU-27, equivalent to 5.3 % of the non-financial business economy (Sections B to J and L to N and Division 95) enterprise population. These enterprises employed 10.9 million persons and added EUR 476 600 million of value, which represented 8.0 % of those working in the non-financial business economy and 7.7 % of the wealth generated. The relatively low share of the enterprise population indicates that the average size of transportation and storage enterprises (in value added or employment terms) was above the non-financial business economy average; in fact this sector includes some activities which are dominated by very large enterprises, for example, postal services, air and rail transport.

The transportation and storage sector’s level of investment reached EUR 126 000 million in 2008, equivalent to 26.4 % of value added, the highest investment rate among the non-financial business economy NACE sections (for which data are available) in the EU-27. As such the transportation and storage services sector can be characterised as a capital-intensive activity. The level of tangible investment made by the transportation and storage services sector was equivalent to 12.6 % of all tangible investment made in the non-financial business economy, a much greater share than the sector’s contribution to employment or value added.

Several indicators based on labour input show this sector to be quite typical of the non-financial business economy as a whole. The apparent labour productivity of the EU-27's transportation and storage services sector in 2008 was EUR 44 thousand per person employed, slightly lower than the non-financial business economy average. Average personnel costs were EUR 31.6 thousand per employee, only slightly above the non-financial business economy average (EUR 30.9 thousand).

In contrast the gross operating rate (the relation between the gross operating surplus and turnover) was 12.7 % in the EU-27’s transportation and storage services sector in 2008, above the non-financial business economy average (10.2 %), but one of the lowest rates among the services NACE sections.

Sectoral analysis

In value added terms, the largest subsector (at the division level) in the EU-27 was land transport and transport via pipelines (Division 49), which accounted for more than two fifths (43.1 %) of the sector’s value added in 2008, followed by warehousing and transport support activities (Division 52) which had a share of just under one third (32.9 %). Postal and courier activities (Division 53) generated more than one tenth (12.9 %) of the sector’s value added while water and air transport (Divisions 50 and 51) each accounted for about half this much. The land transport and transport via pipelines share of employment was notably larger, as this subsector employed more than half (54.3 %) of the sector’s workforce while the postal and courier activities subsector also accounted for a larger share of the sectoral employment than it did of sectoral value added. The three other subsectors accounted for smaller shares of the sectoral total based on employment than they did in terms of value added, most notably the water transport subsector. Consequently the subsectors recorded very different levels of apparent labour productivity. The water transport subsector recorded the highest apparent labour productivity among the five divisions reaching EUR 123 thousand per person employed which was approximately twice the level in air transport and in warehousing and support activities for transportation which were the next highest. By far the lowest levels of apparent labour productivity were recorded for land transport and transport via pipelines (EUR 35 thousand) and postal and courier activities (EUR 33 thousand), although at a more detailed level the activity of transport via pipelines (Group 49.5) recorded an exceptionally high apparent labour productivity, EUR 284 thousand per person employed.

Personnel costs per employee were as high as EUR 63.1 thousand per employee in 2008 for the EU-27’s air transport subsector, more than double the non-financial business economy average. As for apparent labour productivity the lowest average personnel costs were recorded for land transport and transport via pipelines as well as postal and courier activities, both just under EUR 28 thousand per employee, below the non-financial business economy average. As a consequence of its very high apparent labour productivity, the water transport subsector recorded the highest wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio among the five subsectors, as the apparent labour productivity was equivalent to 260.7 % of the average personnel costs in this subsector; at a more detailed level of analysis transport via pipelines recorded an even higher ratio (756.3 %). As a result of its very high average personnel costs, the air transport subsector recorded a wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio of 101.4 %, indicating that average personnel costs in this subsector were only fractionally higher than the apparent labour productivity.

Among the five NACE divisions within the EU-27’s transportation and storage services sector the gross operating rate was highest in 2008 in warehousing and support activities for transportation at 16.1 %. Only in the air transport subsector (0.5 %) did this rate fall below the non-financial business economy average (10.2 %).

The investment rate in 2008 was particularly high in water transport (63.6 %), and this rate was above the non-financial business economy average (16.3 %) in all activities shown in Table 2 except the postal and courier activities.

Country analysis

Germany had the highest value added among the Member States in three of the five subsectors shown in Table 3, with its share reaching 29.8 % for water transport and 25.0 % for warehousing and transport support activities. In air transport the United Kingdom also recorded a large share, accounting for 25.2 % of EU-27 value added.

In 2008 the Member State most specialised in the transportation and storage sector in employment terms was Denmark as 15.5 % of the Danish non-financial business economy workforce was employed in this sector; this was far ahead of the 11.4 % share in Latvia, the next most specialised Member State. The high Danish specialisation was mainly due to a particularly high specialisation in land transport which alone accounted for 11.9 % of the non-financial business economy workforce.

All of the Baltic Member States reported that a relatively large share of non-financial business economy value added was generated in the transportation and storage sector, more than 10 % in each of these countries. In value added terms the Baltic Member States were the three most specialised in the land transport and transport via pipelines subsector, while Latvia had the highest specialisation in the warehousing and transport support activities subsector. In value added terms Denmark was the most specialised Member States in the water transport subsector, followed by the Netherlands, while Ireland and the Netherlands were the most specialised in the air transport subsector.

Regional analysis

The regional distribution of transport and storage services is influenced by a number of factors, essentially focused on a concentration of customers and access to transport infrastructure. Transport services are also influenced by location, with water transport naturally being important for coastal regions and particularly islands, while air transport is also important for regions containing or close to major cities, and also for island regions (especially those with a developed tourism market).

As a whole, the share of transportation and storage in non-financial business economy employment was concentrated within a very narrow range; a small number of regions are major outliers with a very high degree of specialisation in these activities, while there are very few regions which have a particularly low specialisation in this sector. In employment terms the three regions most specialised in transportation and storage services were the capital city region of Slovakia (Bratislavský kraj), and two coastal Danish regions (Sjælland and Nordjylland). Some of the high specialisations are due to specialisations in one or a small number of particular types of services, for example Bratislavský kraj was the most specialised in warehousing and transport support activities, while the top three most specialised regions in the land transport and transport via pipelines subsector were Danish.

Size class analysis

The enterprise size structure of the EU-27’s transportation and storage services sector would appear to be dominated by large enterprises (with 250 or more persons employed) – just over half (53.1 %) of the value added in 2008 was generated by the approximately 3 500 large enterprises and these employed 49.6 % of the workforce. The non-financial business economy average for large enterprise was a 41.4 % share of value added and a 33.3 % share of the workforce.

However, as already noted, this overall situation for the EU-27’s transportation and storage services sector is a combination of different structures. For example, large enterprises in freight rail transport (Group 49.2) and postal and courier activities (Division 53) generated close to 90 % of value added in 2008, whereas in road freight transport and removal services (Group 49.4) their share was 12.8 % while for inland freight water transport (Group 50.4) their share was just 1.7 %.

Among the Member States the relative importance of large enterprises was greatest in France and the United Kingdom where these enterprises accounted for 64.9 % of the sectoral value added; in nine other Member States large enterprises generated at least half of the value added in the transportation and storage services sector. Medium-sized enterprises (with 50 to 249 persons employed) generated more than a third (34.4 %) of sectoral value added in Estonia, by far the highest share for this size class. Micro and small enterprises (with less than 50 persons employed) generated two fifths or more of sectoral value added in Spain, Finland, Belgium, Slovenia and Estonia.

Data sources and availability

The analysis presented in this article is based on the main datasets for structural business statistics (SBS) which are disseminated annually. The three data sets used are:

the national series which have the most detailed analysis by activity according to the activity classification NACE and the widest range of variables;
the regional series which provide an analysis at 2-digit level of the regional classification NUTS;
the size class series which provide an analysis based on six size classes reflecting the number of persons employed.

Context

EU transport policy is based upon the 2011 White paper Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area – Towards a competitive and resource efficient transport system. This included around 40 specific initiatives to build a competitive transport system that aims to increase mobility, remove major barriers in key areas and fuel growth and employment. At the same time, the proposals aim to dramatically reduce Europe's dependence on imported oil and cut carbon emissions in transport by 60 % by 2050. Key goals to be achieved by 2050 include: no more conventionally-fuelled cars in cities; 40 % use of sustainable low carbon fuels in aviation; at least 40 % cut in shipping emissions; a 50 % shift of medium distance intercity passenger and freight journeys from road to rail and waterborne transport.

In most Member States, universal service providers still operate as a monopoly and have exclusive rights within the postal market, balanced by the fact that they have a universal service obligation. Private operators dominate the express services market, providing letter and parcel services, specifically to the business-to-business, direct mail and business-to-private segments of the market. Since the middle of the 1990’s there have been gradual developments towards market liberalisation for post and courier services, with parcels and express services markets now fully open to competing operators. The latest amendment (2008/6) of the European Parliament and of the Council to the 1997 Directive on Community postal services was adopted in February 2008 and set out a timetable to abolish remaining restrictions on mail deliveries under 50 grams (known as the ‘reserved area’ for national operators) and open up Europe's postal sector to full competition. The deadline for full market opening was 2010 for the majority of the Member States, with a transitional period until 2012 for the remainder.

Further Eurostat information

SBS – services (sbs_serv)

Annual detailed enterprise statistics - services (sbs_na_serv)

Annual detailed enterprise statistics for services (NACE Rev.2 H-N and S95) (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)

Preliminary results on services, main indicators (NACE Rev.2) (sbs_sc_r2preli)

SMEs - Annual enterprise statistics broken down by size classes - services (sbs_sc_sc)

Services broken down by employment size classes (NACE Rev.2 H-N and S95) (sbs_sc_1b_se_r2)

SBS - regional data - all activities (sbs_r)

Regional data (NACE Rev.2) (sbs_r_nuts06_r2)

Dedicated section

Structural business statistics

Other information

Regulation 58/1997 of 20 December 1996 concerning structural business statistics
Decision 2367/2002/EC of 16 December 2002 on the Community statistical programme 2003 to 2007
Regulation 295/2008 of 11 March 2008 concerning structural business statistics