France Manufactures a Smaller Share of Its Economy Than Bulgaria
Silver Data Lab Research Desk · Statistical analysis · Published on 11 August 2026
- Data source
- Eurostat
- Reference period
- 2025
- Last updated
- 03 September 2026
Key estimates
- Manufacturing accounted for 15.8% of gross value added in the EU in 2025.
- Slovenia at 21.1% and Czechia at 20.8% are the highest genuinely industrial economies in the Union.
- Ireland records 30.8%, a figure produced by multinational accounting rather than by Irish factories.
- France records 11.2%, fifth from the bottom of the Union and below Bulgaria, Romania and Portugal.
- Eleven Member States are above the EU share and sixteen below it.
Where the Union still makes things
Manufacturing's share of gross value added measures how much of an economy's output comes from making physical goods, as against services, construction, agriculture and energy.
For the European Union as a whole the answer in 2025 was 15.8%. Roughly one euro of value added in six.
The Irish figure, and why it comes first
Ireland tops the ranking at 30.8%, nearly double the EU share, and the number should be read with care rather than at face value.
Ireland hosts the European operations of a number of large pharmaceutical and technology firms, and output booked to those operations enters Irish value added. The resulting manufacturing share describes where profits are recorded more than where work is done. Irish manufacturing employment is not twice the European norm.
Stating that is not a reason to exclude the figure. It is a reason to read the second and third positions as the top of the ranking of ordinary industrial economies.
The central European belt
Slovenia records 21.1% and Czechia 20.8%. Slovakia follows at 18.1% and Hungary at 17.7%.
Germany, the economy most associated with European manufacturing, records 19.4% — behind Slovenia, Czechia and Denmark. It remains by far the Union's largest manufacturer in absolute terms, and in proportion to its own economy it is one industrial country among several.
The pattern is a belt running from the Baltic through Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary into Slovenia and Austria, tied into German supply chains. These are the same Member States that send close to four fifths of their goods exports to other Member States, which is the subject of a separate study on this site.
France
France records 11.2%, fifth from the bottom of the Union. The four below it are Greece, Malta, Cyprus and Luxembourg — one small tourism economy and three micro-states.
Among economies of comparable size France is alone at that level. It manufactures a smaller share of its output than Bulgaria at 12.7%, Romania at 13.1% or Portugal at 13.0%, well under Italy at 16.8%, and only just below Spain at 11.7%.
Spain at 11.7% is close behind, which makes the southern European pattern broader than France alone. But France is the case that carries weight, because it is the Union's second-largest economy and because its industrial position is a recurring subject of its own politics.
What the indicator does not say
A share is not a size. France's manufacturing sector is one of the largest in the Union in absolute terms; it is small relative to the French economy, which has a correspondingly large services sector.
Nor does a falling share mean a shrinking industry. An economy whose services grow faster than its factories will show a declining manufacturing share while manufacturing output rises. This measure ranks composition, not industrial health.
Manufacturing share of gross value added, 2025
| Country | % of gross value added | Gap to EU averagepercentage points, derived |
|---|---|---|
| Ireland | 30.8 | +15.0 |
| Slovenia | 21.1 | +5.3 |
| Czechia | 20.8 | +5.0 |
| European Unionaggregate | 15.8 | — |
| Malta | 5.7 | −10.1 |
| Cyprus | 4.9 | −10.9 |
| Luxembourg | 4.1 | −11.7 |
What these figures cannot tell you
- A share, not a level
- The indicator measures manufacturing against the rest of the domestic economy. A country can increase manufacturing output and still record a falling share if its services sector grows faster, so this is a measure of composition rather than of industrial performance.
- Ireland is distorted by multinational accounting
- Output booked to foreign-owned pharmaceutical and technology operations enters Irish value added, producing a manufacturing share far above what Irish manufacturing employment would suggest. The figure is correct as published and does not describe the domestic economy.
- Manufacturing excludes mining, energy and construction
- NACE section C covers manufacturing alone. Economies with large extractive or energy sectors record those elsewhere, so this is not a measure of the whole industrial base.
- Value added is measured where activity is recorded
- In closely integrated supply chains, the same product passes through several countries and each records only its own value added. That is the correct treatment, and it means national shares reflect position in a chain as well as industrial strength.
Frequently asked questions
- How much of the EU economy is manufacturing?
- 15.8% of gross value added in 2025 — roughly one euro in six. National shares run from 30.8% in Ireland to 4.1% in Luxembourg.
- Which EU country manufactures the most?
- As a share of its own economy, Ireland at 30.8%, though that figure reflects output booked by foreign-owned firms rather than Irish factories. Among ordinary industrial economies Slovenia leads at 21.1%, followed by Czechia at 20.8%. In absolute terms Germany is the Union's largest manufacturer by a wide margin.
- Why is France so low on manufacturing?
- France records 11.2% of gross value added, fifth from the bottom of the Union. Only Greece and three micro-states are lower. It manufactures a smaller share of its output than Bulgaria, Romania or Portugal, though its manufacturing sector remains one of the largest in the Union in absolute terms.
- Does a low manufacturing share mean industrial decline?
- Not necessarily. The share falls whenever the rest of the economy grows faster, even if manufacturing output is rising. The indicator ranks what an economy is made of, not whether its industry is healthy.
Methodological note
Gross value added by industry is published by Eurostat under NACE Rev. 2. This study uses section C, manufacturing, expressed as a percentage of total gross value added across all activities.
Values are for 2025, the most recent year with complete coverage of the 27 Member States at the extraction date.
The counts of Member States above and below the EU share, France's position from the bottom of the ranking, and the comparisons with individual Member States are derived by Silver Data Lab from the published shares.
Source data
The underlying series can be inspected and re-downloaded from the Eurostat data browser. The filters below are the ones applied.
Gross value added and income by main industry (NACE Rev. 2)
nama_10_a10
- Filters applied:
- freq=A · unit=PC_TOT · na_item=B1G · nace_r2=C · time=2025
- Extracted:
- 2026-09-03
- Source last updated:
- 2026-09-02
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