European biofabrication demonstrates its strength as a critical sector for Europe
The report "Measuring the Economic Footprint of the Biotechnology Industry in the European Union", prepared by the WifOR Institute, aims to estimate the economic impact of the productive activities of EU companies that apply biotechnology in their manufacturing and research processes.
EuropaBio has published the "Measuring the Economic Footprint of the Biotechnology Industry in the European Union" report, covering the period from 2008 to 2022. The findings demonstrate the continuous economic growth and strength of the biotechnology sector.
The report’s objective is to estimate the economic impact of productive activities within EU companies that integrate biotechnology into their manufacturing and research processes. It does not include the economic activities of pre-revenue companies or service providers.
The report presents key indicators distinguishing the biotechnology sub-sectors—healthcare, agricultural, and industrial—including Gross Value Added (GVA), employment, productivity, and trade.
GDP Impact
In 2022, the Gross Value Added (GVA) of European biotechnology amounted to €38.11 billion, representing approximately 1.58% of the European economy’s GDP—almost double the figure from 2008. Additionally, the total contribution of the biotechnology sector, including direct, indirect, and induced effects, reached €75.16 billion.
Breaking it down by sub-sector, healthcare biotechnology contributed the most to GVA, with €32.75 billion, followed by industrial biotechnology (€5.18 billion) and agricultural biotechnology (€180 million).
The average annual growth rate of biotechnology GVA during the analyzed period was 4.7%, exceeding other European economic sectors such as Information and Communication or Transport and Storage.
R&D Impact
The direct contribution of the biotechnology industry to GDP through its internal research activities reached approximately €5.75 billion in 2022. This represents an absolute increase of approximately €2.95 billion since 2008, with an average annual growth rate of 5.3%.
By sector, healthcare biotechnology contributed €5.42 billion, while industrial biotechnology added €330 million to GVA through research activities.
Employment Impact
According to the study, the biotechnology industry supported 913,160 jobs in 2022, of which 238,170 were direct jobs and 674,990 were indirect or induced employment.
Among the 238,170 direct jobs:
- Healthcare biotechnology accounted for 184,400 jobs (77.4% of the total).
- Industrial biotechnology employed 49,900 people (20.8%).
- Agricultural biotechnology provided 4,400 jobs (1.8%).
Between 2008 and 2018, approximately 32,000 additional jobs were created. However, in 2019, the biotechnology sector experienced a significant drop of 11,500 jobs compared to the previous year. Since then, the sector has grown substantially, creating 53,700 additional jobs—surpassing the total number of jobs created in the entire previous decade.
As a result, in 2022, the biotechnology sector represented 0.11% of the total European labor market, a significant increase from 0.08% in 2008.
Productivity per Employee
Regarding productivity, the EU biotechnology industry generated €160,000 in GVA per employee—more than double the overall economy’s average of €66,900 in GVA per employee. This high labor productivity highlights the EU biotechnology industry’s efficiency and its capital-intensive nature.
Trade
The report only accounts for exports to non-EU countries. In 2022, EU biotechnology industry exports reached €87.1 billion, representing 3.4% of all EU exports to the rest of the world.
Between 2008 and 2022, biotechnology exports grew by 10.6% annually, more than double the growth of total EU exports (4.3%). The COVID-19 pandemic significantly boosted the value of healthcare biotechnology exports, reflecting the EU’s strong manufacturing capacity for vaccine production and the high level of internationalization in healthcare supply chains.
The EU Biotechnology Sector: Sustained Economic Strength
The report concludes that biotechnology has significantly outperformed the EU’s industrial average, reaffirming its position as a highly innovative sector.
It highlights the increasing maturity of the EU’s bioscience sector, developed over decades, with established clusters and disruptive innovation fostered through collaboration across the value chain—from innovative SMEs to large multinational companies.
While industrial biotechnology’s contribution to GDP remains relatively small in global trade figures, the report emphasizes the need for further acceleration as it becomes more integrated across multiple sectors.