The concentration data is new and experimental but is useful for gaining a better understanding of how much production in an industry or the entire economy is controlled by a small number of large firms, according to Eurostat.
ADVERTISEMENTThe energy sector is the EU's most concentrated industry, according to new figures from the EU's statistical office, with one out of five jobs in that sector linked to one of the four largest energy multinationals operating in the EU.
The statistics, covering the period between 2018 and 2021 and published by Eurostat on Monday, also show that large firms dominate a significant portion of several other sectors.
The mining and quarrying sector comes second, with 13.7% of all employees of this industry working for the four largest companies operating in the EU in 2021. Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities come third, with 10.3%.
Earlier last year, Eurostat published data showing Germany generates the most value among all member states within the five sectors of activity shown in the above graphics.
Eurostat noted that the data on concentration is new and experimental, but is helpful to better understand "the degree to which production in an industry or in the whole economy is dominated by a few large firms."
Eurostat's analysis specified that such datasets are specifically interesting to move past false impressions that some companies are working independently, when in reality they operate under the same large firms, with the same profit goals.
Some sectors however show a significantly low percentage of concentration, such as real estate or scientific activities.
Among those three sectors that are the least concentrated in Europe, Germany was also the country adding the most value across the bloc.
You might also like
How are clusters helping Europe's aerospace industry take off?
