1. Europe: World’s top economic power
Cradle of ABB
ABB in Europe
Four out of seven ABB research
Revenues 2011: centers are located in Europe:
US $ 15 bn Krakow, Poland
Ladenburg, Germany
Employees 2011: Västeras, Sweden
60,300 Baden, Switzerland
World’s leading economic power
Europe has the largest economy among all
regions in the world. The Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) of the European countries is
approximately E 2,000 billion larger than the
GDP of the Unites States. In comparison to
Europe USA BRICS
the rising national economies of the BRICS-
countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and E 13,221 E 11,174 E 8,803
South Africa, the GDP of Europe is larger by bn bn bn
around E 4,400 billion.
Largest internal trade worldwide
Asia 9.3 % E 403 bn
Europe
71 % Northern Europe
Commonwealth states
7.4 %
3.2 %
E 320 bn
E 138 bn
E 3,075 bn Africa 3.1 % E 136 bn
Middle East 3.0 % E 129 bn
South and Central America 1.7 % E 75 bn
Other 1.3 % E 56 bn
The largest share of trade is between European countries.
71 % of all exported goods from European countries are destined for the European market.
Magnet for foreign In total, the flow of
direct investment investments into Europe
three times
are
as big as that into
America or Asia.
The flow of investments to Europe in 2010 counted E
Two-thirds of these came from European countries.
9,736 billion.
Competitive and innovative
In the listing of worldwide competitiveness there are seven European national
economies among the leading ten. The ranking of the most innovative countries
shows six out of ten countries are from Europe.
1. Switzerland 1. Switzerland
2. Singapore 2. Sweden
3. Sweden 3. Japan
4. Finland 4. Finland
5. USA 5. Germany
6. Germany 6. USA
7. Netherlands 7. Israel
8. Denmark 8. Denmark
9. Japan 9. Netherlands
10. Great Britain 10. Taiwan, China
The Global Competitiveness The Global Competitiveness
Index 2011 – 2012, Overall Index, Index 2011 – 2012, Innovation
World Economic Forum and sophisticated factors,
World Economic Forum
Expenses for research and
development
In 2010 around E 160 billion has been invested in research and development in Europe.
This amount is about ten times as high as the global players Microsoft, IBM, Google, Apple
and 3M spend per year on research and development put together.
Microsoft E 6.7 bn
IBM E 4.6 bn x 10 = Europe
Google E 2.9 bn
Apple E 1.4 bn
3M E 1.1 bn
= total E 16.7 bn
Investments in the energy infrastructure
In order to achieve the targets of climate
and environmental protection, around
E 1,000 billion has to be invested according to
the European Commission. Of these, around
E 200 billion is needed for the electricity grid.
E 104 billion alone is
set aside for rehabilittion
and building of additional
51,500 kilometers of high
voltage lines.
Revamping Europe’s power supply
Europe’s targets:
20 – 20 – 20
Up to the year 2020, 20 % less
CO2 emissions, 20 % more energy
efficiency and 20 % more renew-
ables.
As electric energy will increasingly be
produced far away from the consu-
mers, the European system of energy
supply is facing fundamental change.
Investments in renewable energy
on a record high
In 2011 around E 200 billion was invested in renewable energies, E 77 billion of which in Europe
alone. The investments of the record year 2011 were five times as high as in 2004.
E 77 bn
in Europe
5 x
invested in
E 41 bn
renewable energies
E 200 bn
2004 2011
