Last year, the industry represented the most significant economic activity in the European Union in terms of production generated, representing 19.7% of the total gross value added, and the countries with the highest percentage were: Ireland (35%), the Czech Republic (29.2%), Slovenia (27%), Poland (24.7%), Slovakia (24.5%), Germany (24.3%) and Romania (24.1%), according to data released on Wednesday by the European Statistics Office (Eurostat).

The other important economic activities in the EU last year were “wholesale and retail trade, transport, food and accommodation services” (19.7% in the EU, 20.1% in Romania), followed by “Public administration, defense, education, health and social work activities” (18.7% in the EU, 15% in Romania), “Professional, scientific and technical activities” (11.4% in the EU, 8.7% in Romania), “Real estate activities” (10.8% in the EU, 8% in Romania), “Construction” (5.3% in the EU, 7.1% in Romania), “Agriculture, forestry and fishing” (1.6% in the EU, 4.5% in Romania), “Information and Communications” (5.4% in the EU, 6.1% in Romania), “Finance and Insurance” (4.7% in the EU, 2.7% in Romania) and “Art and recreation activities” (3.4% in the EU, 3.7% in Romania), according to Agerpres.

Although “Industry” continued to represent last year the most significant economic activity in the European Union in terms of production generated, in the last two decades there has been a significant decline (from 22.6% in 1999 to 19.7% in 2019). Also, in the last two decades there has been a significant decrease in “Agriculture, forestry and fishing” (minus 0.7 pp), “Finance and insurance” (minus 0.4 pp), “Construction” (minus 0.3 pp), “Art and recreational activities” (minus 0.2 pp), while the “wholesale and retail trade, transport, food and accommodation services” sector remained stable.