Brief on jobs and growth in the EU bioeconomy 2012-2021
This brief on 'jobs and growth in the EU bioeconomy 2012-2021' is one out of a series of EC Knowledge Centre for Bioeconomy's briefs which intend to provide independent evidence for EU policy in this field.
The key messages are:
1. In 2021 the biomass-producing and converting sectors of the EU bioeconomy created up to EUR 728 billion of value added and employed 17.2 million people. These values represent 5.0 % of the EU’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 8.2 % of its labour force.
2. Between 2012 and 2021, the value added in the bioeconomy sectors in real terms grew by 39 %, mainly driven by the bio-based manufacturing sectors. However, there was a decrease of 1.3 million jobs in the same period, primarily due to the reduction in agricultural employment; by contrast, some bio-based industries increased their employment levels during the period analysed.
3. With respect to the COVID-19 crisis, the bioeconomy showed more resilience than the overall economy. Traditional biomass-processing sectors declined in 2020 but strongly recovered in 2021, while more technological sectors show more stable trends during this period. This highlights the key role of the EU bioeconomy, not only for environmental sustainability, but also for strengthening socioeconomic resilience and the contributing to the EU’s strategic autonomy.
4. The structure of the EU bioeconomy varies across Member States. Generally, Eastern and Southern European countries have higher shares of bio-based sectors over GDP and total employment, due to their specialisation in primary sectors. These countries also accounted for most of the agricultural workforce decline, leading to improved labour productivity.
LASARTE LOPEZ Jesus;
M'BAREK Robert;
BORZACCHIELLO Maria Teresa;
2024-03-13
European Commission
JRC137187
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC137187,
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