Self-Employment In UK In 2014

In 2014 there were 4.6m self-employed people in the UK accounting for 15% of people in work. It is highest percentage it has been at any point in the last 40 years. There were also 356,000 employees who had a second job in which they were self-employed.

The rise in total employment since 2008 has been among the self-employed. It is largely due to fewer people leaving self-employment than in the past. Self-employed people tend to be older than employees. Self-employment among the over 65s has more than doubled in the past 5 years to reach nearly half a million.

Average median income from self-employment has fallen by 22% since 2008-9. In 2012-13 average median income from self-employment was £207 according to the Family Resource Survey. It should be noted that household surveys tend to underestimate income from self-employment. Income figures also include individuals who made a loss whereas employed people do not get paid a negative figure. Self-employed people do not get the same benefits as employed people in terms of sick pay, paid leave or maternity pay.

London had the highest concentration of self-employed people at 17.3% followed by the south west on 16.6% and the south east at 15.8%. The north east had the lowest concentration at 10.8%.

Across Europe the country with the highest rate of self-employment was Greece with 32%. Italy came next with 23.6% and Romania with 20.4%. The high figure for Greece is partly because of the high proportion of people self-employed in agriculture and the effects of tourism. The lowest rates were in Luxembourg with 8.1%, Denmark with 9% and Estonia with 9.4%. The EU average self-employment rate was 15.2% very close to the 15% in the UK. The UK has seen the third largest percentage rise in self-employment since 2009 at 19% behind Slovenia at 23% and Estonia at 20%. These countries are small in comparison and the average percentage change in the EU as a whole was -0.1%.

House Prices Fall In Euro Area

House prices in the euro area fell by 0.3% as measured by the House Price Index (HPI) and increased by 1% in the EU during the first quarter of 2014 compared with the same period last year. When compared with the fourth quarter of 2013 the HPI fell by 0.3% in the euro area and rose by 0.2% in the EU according to Eurostat.

The biggest annual falls in house prices according to the HPI were in Croatia with -9.7%, Slovenia -6.6% and Cyprus -5.7%. The biggest increases were in Estonia with 17.5% and Latvia with 10.4%. The UK was next with an increase of 8%. The biggest falls over the quarter were in Croatia with -2.7%, Luxembourg with -2.3% and Slovenia -1.7%. THe highest increases were in Estonia with an increase of 4.8%, Sweden with an increase of 2.4% and the UK with an increase of 2.2%.

Industrial Production Is Down 0.4% In Europe

Industrial production fell in both the euro area and the EU27 in January by 0.4% in both zones. In December they both grew.

Durable consumer goods production fell by 1.4% in the euro area and by 0.4% in the EU27 in January 2013 compared with December 2012. Non-durables invcreased by 0.9% and 1.3% respectively. Capital goods fell by 1.2% in both zones. Intermediate goods production grew by 0.1% in the euro area but fell by 0.1% in the EU27. Energy production decreased by 1% in the euro area and by 1.2% in the EU27.

The data available tells us that in Jnuary compared with December industrial production rose in nine countries and fell in nine. The highest increases were in Lithuania and Denmark and the largest decreases were in Finland and Luxembourg.

The annual comparison shows that production of durables fell by 5.5% in the euro area and 4.3% in the EU27. Production of non-durables increased by 3.1% and 2.2% respectively. Capital goods fell by 2.6% in both zones and energy production increased by 0.9% in the euro area and remained stable in the EU27. Intermediate goods production fell by 3.1% and 3.4% respectively.

The largest increases over the year were in Bulgaria and Lithuania and the decreases were in Sweden and Finland. There were increases in seven countries and decreases in eleven.

Healthy Life Years To Go

Healthy life years measure the number of years a person can expect to live in a generally healthy condition. At birth, in 2011, men and women in the EU27 could expect to live to 62 years. At 50 people could expect to live another 18 years and at 65 people in Europe culd expect another 9 healthy years of life.

A healthy condition is defined as the absence of limitations to functioning/disability. It is measured by a self-perceived questionnaire asking for the extent of any limitations lasting for over 6 months and caused by a health problem. The indicator of healthy life years measures the number of years a person can expect to live without any serious health problems. It means the respondenets can carry on their usual activities.

At birth, men and women in Sweden and Malta can expect to live to over 70 years. The lowest numbers of healthy life years were 52 in Slovakia and 54 in Slovenia for both men and women. At 50 both women and men were expected to have more than another 20 years in Sweden, Malta and Denmark, Luxembourg, Ireland and the UK. The lowest was Slovakia with 10 years for both men and women. At 65, highest healthy life years were in Sweden with an additional 15 years for women and 14 for men and the lowest Was Slovakia with 3 and 4 years respectively.

Increases In Retail Trade On Europe's High Streets

The volume of retail trade rose by 1.2% in the euro area and by 0.9% in the EU27 in January compared with December according to data from Eurostat. In December trade had fallen by 0.8% and 0.7% respectively. The annual comparison shows that sales fell by 1.3% in the euro area and by 0.9% in the EU27 in January 2013 compared with January 2012.

The monthly comparison shows that the countries with the greatest increases in January were Portugal and Romania with 4.2% with the largest decreases in Denmark (-2%), Malta (1.6%) and Finland (-1.2%). The annual comparison shows that the largest increases were in Belgium (8.4%) and Luxembourg (7.1%) and the biggest decreases were in Slovenia (-7.6%), Bulgaria (-5.5%) and Portugal (-3.9%).

GDP Per Capita Ranged From 45% To 274% In EU In 2011

GDP per capita estimates expressed in Purchasing Power Standards (PPS) in the EU in 2011 ranged from 45% in Bulgaria to 274% in Luxembourg, more than two and a half times the EU27 average according to Eurostat. The euro area GDP per capita was 108% of the EU27 average as was the UK. Germany was 120%, France 107% and Italy 101%.

Retail Volumes Increase Across Europe

The volume of retail trade has increased by 0.3% in the euro area during March compared with February and by 0.7% in the EU27. In Bulgaria sales increased by 3.9% and in Poland by 2.6%. In western Europe sales laos incresaed in Austria and the UK both by 1.9%. Retail trade decreased in Portugal (-2.2%) and Estonia (-2%) and Slovenia -1.4%). The changes in both areas were mainly due to fluctuations in the non-food products sectors. Over the year from March 2011 to March 2012 retail sales fell by 0.2% in the euro area but grew in the EU27 by 1%. The biggest increases were in Latvia (10%), Estonia (9.3%) and Luxembourg (7.2%) andf the biggest decreases were in Portugal (-5%), Spain (-3.9%) and Malta (-2.7%). The changes were due to a fall of 0.3% in sales in the food, drinks and tobacco sector in the euro area and increases of 0.3% in the euro area and 2.2% in the EU27 in the non-food sector.

September Retail Trade Down In Europe

The volume of retail trade in Europe fell in both the euro zone and the EU in general in September when compared with August 2011. The year on year retail sales index also fell in both areas.

Volume fell by 0.7% in the euro area and 0.3% in the EU27 during the month between August and September. The non-food sector fell by 0.8% in the euro area and 0.9% in the EU while food, drink and tobacco remained unchanged in the euro area and rose by 0.1% in the EU27. The total retail trade index fell in 11 of the member states and rose in 8. The highest decreases were in Portugal (-3.7%), Slovenia (-2.1%) and Spain (-1.7%) and the largest increases were in Poland (2.4%), UK (1%) and Latvia (0.9%).

The index fell by 1.5% in the euro area and 0.8% in the EU27 when comparing 2010 and 2011. The food category fell by 0.5% in the euro area and 0.4% in the EU as a whole. The non-food sector fell by 1.9% and 0.8% respectively. The highest decreases were in Malta (-7.5%), Portugal (-6.2%) and Spain (-5.8%). The highest increases were in Lithuania (10.6%), Luxembourg (8.3%) and Latvia (8.1%).

Poverty And Social Exclusion In Europe

Eurostat has released details of a new publication 'Income and living conditions in Europe' issued in connection with the closing conference of the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion due to take place 16-17 December 2010. It is based on data from the EU-SILC survey.

One of the key targets of the Europe 2020 strategy is to lift at least 20m people in the EU27 out of the risk of poverty or social exclusion. Progress towards this is measured using a combination of three measures: persons at risk of poverty; severely materially deprived persons and persons living in households with very low work intensity. In 2008 nearly 116m people in the EU27 were affected by at least one of the three criteria of social exclusion and nearly 7m fall under all three criteria.

In the EU27 16.5% of the population, a total of 81m people, were at risk of poverty after social transfers. The country with the highest percentage of the total population in this category was Latvia (25.6%), the lowest percentage was in the Czech Republic (9%). In the UK 18.8% of the population or 11.4m people fell into this category.

Bulgaria (41.2%) had the highest percentage of severely materially deprived persons and lowest percentage was in Luxembourg (0.7%). In the EU27 8.5% of the population or 41.5m people fell into this category. The UK figure was 4.5% or 2.7m people.

Ireland (13.6%) had the highest percentage of people living in households with very low work intensity. The lowest percentage was in Cyprus (4.1%). In the UK 4.8m people, 10.2% of the population, were in this category. The EU27 percentage was 9%. The total number of people in this category in the EU27 was 34.2m.

Euro Industry Increases Production By 0.9%

Industrial production in the euro area (EU16) increased by 0.9% over the month to May 2010 and by 9.4% over the year. In the EU27 production grew by 0.5% over the month and by 8.7% over the year to May 2010.

The production of durable consumer goods increased by 2.4% in the euro area and by 1.8% in the EU27 in May compared with April. Capital goods increased by 1% and 1.7% respectively and intermediate goods by 0.8% in both the euro area and the EU27. Energy production increased by 0.6% and 1.3% in the euro area and the EU27 respectively and non-durables grew by 0.6% and 0.9%. Production increased in 16 Member States and fell in 6. The highest increase was in Ireland with 7.5%.

Over the year from May 2009 to May 2010 production of intermediate goods increased by 14.7% in the euro area and 13.7% in the EU27. Capital goods increased by 8.6% and 9% in the euro area and the EU27 respectively. Energy production increased by 5.7% and 4.3%. Durables grew by 6.3% in the euro area and 7.7% in the EU27 and non-durables by 3.7% and 3.3% respectively. Industrial production increased in all Member States over the year with the biggest increases in Estonia with 17.2% and Luxembourg with 13.5% and Sweden with 13.4%, Latvia with 13.2% and Germany with 13.1%.

Wide Range In EU27 per capita GDP PPS

The latest preliminary estimates for per capita GDP in Purchasing Power Standards (PPS) terms from Eurostat for the EU27 varied from 41% in Bulgaria to 268% in Luxembourg of the EU27 average (100).