Bioindustries, often underestimated, continue their rise, marking a total contribution of 750 billion euros to the European economy in 2017, a notable increase of 50 billion euros (+> 7%) compared to 2016. The report of the Nova-Institute commissioned by the Bioindustries Consortium (BIC) also indicated that bioindustries employ 3.6 million people in the EU-28. Figures for the bio-based chemical industry (including plastics) reveal a turnover of € 60 billion and an increase in the share of bio-based products to 15%, compared to 7.5% in 2008.

Analysis of Eurostat data from 2017 shows that the total bioeconomy turnover, including food and beverages and the primary sectors of agriculture and forestry, translates to just over € 2.4 trillion in the EU-28, which means a 25% increase since 2008. Approximately half of the turnover corresponds to the food and beverage sector, approximately 30% is contributed by bio-based industries, such as chemicals and plastics from biobased, pharmaceuticals, paper and paper products, forest industries, textiles, biofuels and bioenergy. The remaining 20% ​​is generated by the primary sectors: agriculture and forestry.

The 2017 data also reveals that the European bioeconomy employed 18.5 million people in total, showing a small decrease from the 18.6 million people in 2016, mainly through efficiency gains in production.