Structural Business Statistics 2020

Distribution

• Persons engaged in the Distribution sector decreased by 4.5% to 372,853 in 2020.
• There were 46,792 enterprises in 2020, of which, 46,682 were SMEs (<250 persons engaged) and 110 were Large enterprises (250+ persons engaged).
• Similar to previous years, SMEs accounted for almost all enterprises (99.8%) in Distribution.
• GVA increased by 4.6% in the Distribution sector in 2020.
• The average GVA per person engaged increased from €66,300 in 2019 to €72,600 in 2020. See Table 3.1 and PxStat Tables.

In 2020, Turnover in the Distribution sector decreased by 4.7% to €183.5 billion, while GVA increased by €1.2 billion or 4.6%.

There was an annual decrease of 17,693 persons engaged in Distribution in 2020. Persons engaged in Large enterprises increased by 641 (0.6%) while persons engaged in SMEs decreased by 18,334 (6.6%). SMEs accounted for 69.5% of persons engaged in Distribution in 2020. 

Gross Value Added in Distribution increased by 4.6% to €27.1 billion between 2019 and 2020. GVA for Large enterprises increased by 11.8% to €8.9 billion. SMEs accounted for 67.3% of the total GVA for the Distribution sector in 2020.

Services

• The number of enterprises in the Services sector increased by 1.2% to 162,862 in 2020.
• The number of SMEs (<250 persons engaged) increased by 1.3%, while Large enterprises (250+ persons engaged) decreased by 16.1%.
• In 2020, similar to the Distribution sector, 99.8% of Services enterprises were SMEs.
• The average GVA per person engaged increased by 23.6% from €112,400 in 2019 to €138,900 in 2020.
• There were 807,781 persons engaged in Services in 2020, a decrease of 92,305 (10.3%) compared with 2019.
• SMEs in the Services sector had 67,897 fewer persons engaged in 2020 than in 2019, a decrease of 10.8%. See Table 3.2 and PxStat Tables.

Turnover in Services increased by 1.6% or €4.8 billion in 2020. GVA at €112.2 billion showed an increase of 10.9%.

Persons engaged in Large enterprises in the Services sector decreased by 24,408 in 2020, a decrease of 9.0%. This compares with a decrease of 67,897 or 10.8% of persons engaged in SMEs. In 2020, seven in ten (69.6%) persons engaged in Services enterprises were employed in SMEs.

 

In 2020, SMEs in the Services sector generated GVA of €54.6 billion, an increase of €3.8 billion or 7.5%. Large enterprises generated €57.6 billion in 2020, an increase of €7.2 billion or 14.3%.