Employment structure by sector in Western Europe 1900-2000

Throughout the 20^th century, employment structures in Western Europe gradually transitioned from being primarily agriculture and industry based, to then being dominated by service industries. The agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector saw the most drastic change over this period, with its share of the total workforce dropping from over 38 percent to less than 3 percent between 1900 and 2000. Employment in industrial sectors saw most growth between 1900 and 1973, before dropping significantly in the last quarter century. It was in the second half of the 1900s when the service sector became the largest employer in Western Europe, jumping from 36 percent of the workforce in 1950 to 69 percent in 2000. Generally speaking, reduced employment in agricultural and, later, industrial sectors was largely due to mechanization and automation, which meant that output from these sectors remained relatively healthy despite having a lower share of the labor force.