European Business

"European Business - Facts and Figures - Data 1995-2005 (2006 Edition)" gives a comprehensive picture of the structure, development and characteristics of the European business economy. It presents the latest available statistics from a wide selection of statistical sources describing production and employment; country specialisation and regional distribution; cost structures; productivity and profitability; the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); workforce characteristics; external trade, and more. The accompanying CD-ROM presents the paper publication in an easily accessible format. The CD-ROM also contains the graphs and tables from the publication and additional, more detailed data in Excel format, as well as a means of easily accessing the most up-to-date live data on the Eurostat website and a large amount of background information. The publication covers the 'business economy', which is the sum of industry, construction and services. It does not cover agriculture, forestry and fishing, nor public administration and (largely) non-market services such as education and health.
The 'business economy' is divided into 23 main sectors, which are analysed in detail in separate chapters. These sectoral chapters consist of an overview of the activity in question, followed by a number of subchapters that analyse each of its component activities. Each chapter concludes with a statistical annex presenting a selection of the most important indicators. The first chapter provides a general overview of the EU-25's business economy, with comparisons across the main sectors. In addition, it provides information of a horizontal nature, such as data pertaining to research and development, business demography, or the importance of foreign controlled enterprises.