Data / Rankings / Enterprises in administrative and support services / EU countries

EU countries by enterprises in administrative and support services

Germany had the highest enterprises in administrative and support services of 27 EU countries in 2017, at 210,657. Malta had the lowest, at 1,782. The median was 19,676 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 1.4 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest210,657Germany
Lowest1,782Malta
Median19,67627 EU countries
European Union (27)1,401,997History

Map of EU countries, 2017

Austria: 16,570 countBelgium: 40,960 countBulgaria: 11,414 countCyprus: 3,014 countCzechia: 32,083 countGermany: 210,657 countDenmark: 18,476 countEstonia: 4,834 countSpain: 164,750 countFinland: 14,228 countFrance: 197,614 countGreece: 19,676 countCroatia: 7,447 countHungary: 41,287 countIreland: 18,716 countItaly: 146,114 countLithuania: 9,126 countLuxembourg: 2,222 countLatvia: 7,783 countMalta: 1,782 countNetherlands: 75,562 countPoland: 76,912 countPortugal: 176,535 countRomania: 22,284 countSweden: 39,958 countSlovenia: 7,716 countSlovakia: 34,315 count
  • Under 8,000
  • 8,000 to 17K
  • 17K to 33K
  • 33K to 77K
  • 77K and over
count, 2017. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2017

Germany: 210,657 countGermany210,657France: 197,614 countFrance197,614Portugal: 176,535 countPortugal176,535Spain: 164,750 countSpain164,750Italy: 146,114 countItaly146,114Poland: 76,912 countPoland76,912Netherlands: 75,562 countNetherlands75,562Hungary: 41,287 countHungary41,287Belgium: 40,960 countBelgium40,960Sweden: 39,958 countSweden39,958Slovakia: 34,315 countSlovakia34,315Czechia: 32,083 countCzechia32,083Romania: 22,284 countRomania22,284Greece: 19,676 countGreece19,676Ireland: 18,716 countIreland18,716Denmark: 18,476 countDenmark18,476Austria: 16,570 countAustria16,570Finland: 14,228 countFinland14,228Bulgaria: 11,414 countBulgaria11,414Lithuania: 9,126 countLithuania9,126Latvia: 7,783 countLatvia7,783Slovenia: 7,716 countSlovenia7,716Croatia: 7,447 countCroatia7,447Estonia: 4,834 countEstonia4,834Cyprus: 3,014 countCyprus3,014Luxembourg: 2,222 countLuxembourg2,222Malta: 1,782 countMalta1,782Germany: 210,657 countGermany210,657France: 197,614 countFrance197,614Portugal: 176,535 countPortugal176,535Spain: 164,750 countSpain164,750Italy: 146,114 countItaly146,114Poland: 76,912 countPoland76,912Netherlands: 75,562 countNetherlands75,562Hungary: 41,287 countHungary41,287Belgium: 40,960 countBelgium40,960Sweden: 39,958 countSweden39,958Slovakia: 34,315 countSlovakia34,315Czechia: 32,083 countCzechia32,083Romania: 22,284 countRomania22,284Greece: 19,676 countGreece19,676Ireland: 18,716 countIreland18,716Denmark: 18,476 countDenmark18,476Austria: 16,570 countAustria16,570Finland: 14,228 countFinland14,228Bulgaria: 11,414 countBulgaria11,414Lithuania: 9,126 countLithuania9,126Latvia: 7,783 countLatvia7,783Slovenia: 7,716 countSlovenia7,716Croatia: 7,447 countCroatia7,447Estonia: 4,834 countEstonia4,834Cyprus: 3,014 countCyprus3,014Luxembourg: 2,222 countLuxembourg2,222Malta: 1,782 countMalta1,782
count. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankEU countries2017
count		Change on 2016
1Germany210,657+5.6%
2France Series break197,614-7.2%
3Portugal176,535+7.7%
4Spain164,750-0.5%
5Italy Series break146,114+1.9%
6Poland76,912+5.9%
7Netherlands75,562+3.6%
8Hungary41,287+6.1%
9Belgium40,960-0.3%
10Sweden39,958+2.1%
11Slovakia34,315+13.3%
12Czechia32,083+2.4%
13Romania22,284+7.1%
14Greece19,676-8.9%
15Ireland18,716+13.5%
16Denmark18,476+3.1%
17Austria16,570+6.9%
18Finland Series break14,228+1.8%
19Bulgaria11,414+3.9%
20Lithuania9,126+12.4%
21Latvia7,783-2.9%
22Slovenia7,716+5%
23Croatia7,447+7.6%
24Estonia4,834+9.5%
25Cyprus3,014+11.5%
26Luxembourg2,222+1.5%
27Malta1,782-2.2%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of enterprises active at any time during the year in administrative and support services (NACE Rev.

More on how it is measured
  • 2 section N), from Eurostat structural business statistics.
  • An enterprise is the smallest combination of legal units that produces goods or services with some autonomy in its decisions; one enterprise can have several local units.

Eurostat structural business statistics. From 2021 the series come from sbs_ovw_act under Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 on European business statistics; 2005 to 2020 come from the earlier table sbs_na_sca_r2. Values for 2021 are flagged as a break: value added moved from factor cost to basic prices and some activities changed coverage, so the change from 2020 to 2021 is not all real. Amounts are published in euros for every country, including those outside the euro area. Not the same as active_companies (INE business register, Spain) or employer_firms (US Census Bureau).

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the EU countries are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_na_sca_r2/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Eurostat, European Commission. (2024). Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2) (EU countries by enterprises in administrative and support services, 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_na_sca_r2/default/table

MLA 9

Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by enterprises in administrative and support services, 2017. Eurostat, European Commission, 1 Mar. 2024, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_na_sca_r2/default/table. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprises-administrative-support/eu-countries?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2024. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). EU countries by enterprises in administrative and support services, 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_na_sca_r2/default/table. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprises-administrative-support/eu-countries?period=2017.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2024) Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by enterprises in administrative and support services, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_na_sca_r2/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprises-administrative-support/eu-countries?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_enterprises_2017,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), enterprises, number (sbs\_na\_sca\_r2): EU countries by enterprises in administrative and support services, 2017}},
  year = {2024},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_na_sca_r2/default/table},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprises-administrative-support/eu-countries?period=2017. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), enterprises, number (sbs\_na\_sca\_r2). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs\_na\_sca\_r2/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Eurostat, European Commission
TI  - Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2): EU countries by enterprises in administrative and support services, 2017
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/03/01
PB  - Eurostat, European Commission
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_na_sca_r2/default/table
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprises-administrative-support/eu-countries?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprises-administrative-support/eu-countries?period=2017.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_na_sca_r2/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank EU countries by enterprises in administrative and support services using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"sbs_enterprises_administrative_support","level":"country","within":"European Union (27)","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=sbs_enterprises_administrative_support&level=country&within=European%20Union%20(27)&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which EU country has the highest enterprises in administrative and support services?

Germany, with 210,657 in 2017, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest enterprises in administrative and support services?

Malta, with 1,782 in 2017.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Eurostat, European Commission, Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

EU countries: more rankings