cefic

Cefic — EU27 Chemical Industry Charts
EU27 Efficient use of energy in the chemical industry
Energy consumption
-40%
1991–2023
Production growth
+28%
1991–2023
Energy intensity
-29%
1991–2023
Energy intensity (1,000 Gigawatt-hours)
Production index* (1991=100)
Specific energy consumption index* (1990=100)
Year Energy (GWh) Prod. index Spec. energy
Source: Cefic analysis based on Eurostat data
*Specific energy consumption index is calculated as (energy consumption index / production index), 1991=100
EU27 : Number of enterprises, sales and employment by size-class (2023)
EU27 chemical SMEs* contribute
Sales
29%
Employment
36%
250 persons
employed or more
From
50-249 persons
From
10-49 persons
From
0-9 persons
Size class Enterprises Net turnover Employment
From 0-9 persons 71%2%4%
From 10-49 persons 18%7%10%
From 50-249 persons 8%20%22%
250 persons or more 3%72%64%
SMEs total (0-249) 97%29%36%
Source: Cefic analysis based on Eurostat data
*SMEs: Small and Medium Enterprises, from 0 to 250 persons
Evolution of chemicals sales (2004 vs 2024)
China overtakes Europe
and the US as global
leader in chemical sales
EU 2004
27%
EU 2024
13%
Sales market share
2004
2024
Region2004 share2024 shareChange
Source: Cefic Chemdata International
* Rest of Europe covers UK, Switzerland, Norway, Türkiye, Russia and Ukraine
** Asia excluding China, India, Japan and South Korea
Chemical sales in Europe by end market (2024)
Supplier to all key
manufacturing sectors
Sales (2024)
€635 billion
Source: Advancy analysis based on Cefic, Eurostat, Oxford Economics