April 16, 2012. Wind power has bucked Europe's economic downturn to swell gross domestic product and create jobs but needs more ambitious EU green energy policy and investment in research and development to keep growing, the region's industry group said. The sector contributed 32 billion euros ($42 billion) to European Union GDP in 2010, up by a third since 2007, according to a report by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA). It said jobs in the sector had reached nearly 240,000 by 2010, an increase of just under one third in 2007-2010, while unemployment rose by 9.6 percent. The number employed in European wind should reach 520,000 by 2020, boosted by increased use of offshore wind which is more labour-intensive than onshore, the association estimated. It forecast the wind industry's contribution to GDP would nearly triple to 94.5 billion euros by 2020.