ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

The EFCI recently published a Trend Report entitled The European Cleaning Industry 1995-2016. This 38-page statistical document gathers Eurostat’s most recent data (NACE 81.2) and builds on historical EFCI’s surveys. It presents the evolution of the cleaning industry from different angles, between 1995 and 2016.

The Trend Report was officially presented during EFCI’s 2019 Conference that took place in Brussels in June. It was welcomed with great interest by the participants and appreciated by industry players, academia and other stakeholders as it is the only pan-European analysis offering research-based and factual information about the European cleaning industry (EU28, Norway and Switzerland).

The Trend Report will be presented in ECJ through three articles that will analyse its main features. They will be published in this and the upcoming two editions of the magazine.

Concept and approach

The Trend Report was commissioned coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the Federation in November 2018. It was developed by the EFCI with the help of hkp///RemuNet and puts together the great deal of work the EFCI has conducted over the last years.

Indeed, the report builds on the historical EFCI Surveys: since 1987,  it has published once every two years the EFCI Survey on the state of the European cleaning industry, providing an in-depth analysis of the sector (market development, employment, country comparisons, etc). It is possible to request past EFCI Survey(s) at www.efci.eu/contacts.

The Trend Report shows how, despite suffering from a so-called “invisibility”, the cleaning sector is indisputably relevant in today’s society, not only for the essential services it provides but also in terms of the great impact it has regarding employment. The Report intends to share the main characteristics of the sector while showing its impressive progression throughout the last 20 years. It therefore becomes a tool for the industry and its stakeholders for analysis, decision-making and a unique instrument to learn about and promote the sector.

The Report is also a solid basis to work on the challenges ahead and work with EFCI’s stakeholders and EU institutions, as it shows the strength and relevance of our sector in terms of contribution to Europe’s GDP and employment rates.

The headlines can summarise the outcomes of the report: (i) an impressive turnover growth and (ii) the job-creating role of our industry in Europe.

Impressive growth

The cleaning industry is an important economic force which is growing steadily. Its excellent performances during the last past 20 years are mainly a result of the diversification of its activities, which includes more and more the provision of facility services besides industrial cleaning. Indeed, a higher diversity of market segments is observed today and is now a reality in all EU member states.

Between 1995 and 2016, the industry’s turnover tripled to reach €107 billion in 2016 (better than the overall market). The industry showed a strong turnover growth of almost 10  per cent annually between 1997 and 2001. Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK account for 69 per cent of the European industry’s turnover in 2016.

Employment-creating industry

The industry employs today over 3.9 million people. This is a considerable increase over the 2.16 million employed in 1995 and correspond to an average addition of 87,000 employees per year in Europe.

EFCI’s Trend Report is available at www.efci.eu/wp-content/uploads/flipbooks/1/. Email: secretariat@efci.eu.