Structure of the euro area economy
This section introduces the main economic and financial structures of the euro area economy.
Key characteristics
Compared with its individual member countries, the euro area is a large and much more closed economy. In terms of its share of global GDP, it is the world’s third-largest economy, after the United States and China.
As in other highly developed economies, the service sector has the largest share of total output, followed by the industrial sector, while the share of agriculture, fishing and forestry is relatively small. The euro area is also one of the world’s largest economies in terms of population, with almost 340 million people.
| Key real economy characteristics of the euro area and other major economic areas in 2023 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unless otherwise indicated, euro area data include Croatia.Sources: For the euro area: ECB, Eurostat, national data and ECB calculations; for the United States, Japan and China: BIS, IMF, OECD, Reuters, World Bank and national sources. | |||||
| Unit | Euro area | United States | Japan | China | |
| Population 1 | millions | 350.8 | 337.1 | 124.4 | 1,409.7 |
| GDP (share of world GDP in PPP) | % | 11.9 | 14.8 | 3.4 | 18.8 |
| GDP per capita 2 | € thousands | 41.6 | 50.6*) | 30.7*) | 14.5*) |
| Value added by economic activity | |||||
| Agriculture, fishing, forestry | % of total | 1.7 | 1.0**) | 0.9 | 7.3 |
| Industry (including constructions) | % of total | 25.2 | 18.5**) | 28.8 | 37.0 |
| Services (including non-market services) | % of total | 73.1 | 80.5**) | 70.3 | 55.7 |
| Unemployment rate (share of the labour force) | % | 6.6 | 3.6 | 2.6 | 5.2 |
| Labour force participation rate 3 | % | 75.0 | 74.7 | 81.1 | . |
| Employment rate 4 | % | 70.0 | 72.0 | 78.9 | . |
| General government 5 | |||||
| Surplus (+) or deficit (-) | % of GDP | -3.5 | -7.7 | -4.2*) | -6.9 |
| Gross debt 6 | % of GDP | 87.3 | 113.4 | 228.2*) | 84.4 |
| Revenue | % of GDP | 46.0 | 31.9 | 39.4*) | 26.2 |
| of which direct taxes | % of GDP | 13.2 | 12.8 | 11.7*) | . |
| of which indirect taxes | % of GDP | 12.4 | 6.9 | 9.4*) | . |
| of which net social contributions | % of GDP | 14.5 | 6.6 | 13.9*) | . |
| Expenditure 7 | % of GDP | 49.5 | 39.5 | 43.6*) | 33.2 |
| of which final consumption | % of GDP | 21.2 | 13.6 | 21.7*) | . |
| of which social benefits | % of GDP | 22.3 | 15.2 | 22.4*) | . |
| External 8 | |||||
| Exports of goods | % of GDP | 19.4 | 7.4 | 17.0 | . |
| Exports of goods and services | % of GDP | 28.9 | 11.1 | 21.9 | 0.0 |
| Import of goods | % of GDP | 17.5 | 11.2 | 18.1 | . |
| Import of goods and services | % of GDP | 26.2 | 13.9 | 23.6 | 0.0 |
| Current account balance | % of GDP | 1.7 | -3.3 | 3.8 | . |
- Comparing the recent financial crisis in the United States and the euro area with the experience of Japan in the 1990s, ECB Monthly Bulletin, May 2012
- Recent developments in the wage drift in the euro area, ECB Monthly Bulletin Box, January 2013
- Euro area labour markets and the crisis, 10 October 2012
- Competition, productivity and prices in the euro area services sector (Occasional Paper No. 44), by Task Force of the Monetary Policy Committee of the ESCB, 10 April 2006
- Indicators of financial integration in the euro area, 30 September 2005
- Inflation differentials in the euro area: potential causes and policy implications, 30 September 2003
- Structural factors in the EU housing markets, 28 March 2003
- Report on financial structures, 12 October 2002
- Statistical annex
- Price effects of regulatory reform in selected network industries, 24 March 2001