Whether you need to know how much beer has been bought in Denmark, how many hospital beds there are in France, how many fax machines are in use in Spain, or how many libraries Sweden has, this is the place to find the information. This Euromonitor directory, now in its 38th edition, has been thoroughly revised. The table of contents, which is clear and easy to follow, gives details of the 24 areas covered. In total 45 European countries are covered, from larger countries such as France and Germany to smaller countries such as Andorra, Belarus and Latvia.
Statistics can be found on population; economic indicators; banking and finance; external trade; labour force indicators; industrial resources and output; and energy resources and output. Other areas covered are: environmental data; consumer expenditure; retail distribution; advertising and media; consumer market sizes; consumer prices and costs; household characteristics; health and living standards; literacy and education. The directory also contains information on agricultural resources; communications; automotives; transport; travel and tourism; cultural indicators, and income and earnings.
The first section, “Marketing geography”, gives brief but informative overviews of each European country from a marketing perspective. This section gives information on which countries use the Euro, what the equivalent of the Euro is in US currency, what languages are spoken, the Head of State or Government and how long he or she has been in power. This section also includes information on the main religion, the land area, and the percentage of the population living in urban areas. For the more populous countries, major urban areas with estimated populations are given. The overall populations for countries are given using 2001 figures. As might be expected, data for politically stable countries is more complete and recent than that for countries such as Bosnia‐Herzegovina and even Cyprus, where the most recent population figures for major urban areas date from 1991. In contrast, population figures for cities in Denmark and the UK date from the year 2000.
From the second section, information is provided in tabular form. Each of the statistical compilations are presented in one of several data periods: a 25‐year trend table from 1977‐2001, a recent period or different period trend, i.e. from 1980‐2001, and the most recent year available. The sources for each table are given underneath. The directory also includes a concise but informative list of official organizations, giving details of pan‐European and national trade and industry associations and others, such as the International Fund for Agricultural Development or the World Trade Organization. This section includes contact details, coverage, Web sites, and year established.
The index is good, with clear leaders and cross‐referencing – the size of the merchant fleet, for example, is listed under “Merchant fleet” and under “Fleet sizes, merchant”. Copy editing is good throughout, and the guide is free of grammatical or spelling errors, giving a sense of security that the data is likely to be equally accurate. This is reinforced by the sources used, which are as authoritative as possible and include the business press, national statistical offices of various countries, the International Monetary Fund, UN, OECD and UNESCO. A useful list of abbreviations is also included.
Although not cheap, this directory does represent value for money: it is difficult to see where else this information could be found in one volume. It would make a useful addition to a reference collection in many places: statistical offices; marketing or business courses; in the world of retail; social studies environments; in the world of planning; or on a European Studies course.
