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 2018, at 221,234. Malta had the lowest, at 1,880. The median was 20,453 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 1.46 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

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Highest221,234Germany
Lowest1,880Malta
Median20,45327 EU countries
European Union (27)1,456,301History

Map of EU countries, 2018

Austria: 15,991 countBelgium: 45,222 countBulgaria: 11,628 countCyprus: 3,246 countCzechia: 33,961 countGermany: 221,234 countDenmark: 19,091 countEstonia: 4,770 countSpain: 163,860 countFinland: 14,212 countFrance: 201,305 countGreece: 20,453 countCroatia: 7,862 countHungary: 45,216 countIreland: 19,050 countItaly: 153,773 countLithuania: 9,666 countLuxembourg: 2,260 countLatvia: 7,681 countMalta: 1,880 countNetherlands: 81,202 countPoland: 86,530 countPortugal: 181,109 countRomania: 22,825 countSweden: 36,822 countSlovenia: 7,966 countSlovakia: 37,401 count
  • Under 8,000
  • 8,000 to 17K
  • 17K to 36K
  • 36K to 85K
  • 85K and over
count, 2018. 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, 2018

Germany: 221,234 countGermany221,234France: 201,305 countFrance201,305Portugal: 181,109 countPortugal181,109Spain: 163,860 countSpain163,860Italy: 153,773 countItaly153,773Poland: 86,530 countPoland86,530Netherlands: 81,202 countNetherlands81,202Belgium: 45,222 countBelgium45,222Hungary: 45,216 countHungary45,216Slovakia: 37,401 countSlovakia37,401Sweden: 36,822 countSweden36,822Czechia: 33,961 countCzechia33,961Romania: 22,825 countRomania22,825Greece: 20,453 countGreece20,453Denmark: 19,091 countDenmark19,091Ireland: 19,050 countIreland19,050Austria: 15,991 countAustria15,991Finland: 14,212 countFinland14,212Bulgaria: 11,628 countBulgaria11,628Lithuania: 9,666 countLithuania9,666Slovenia: 7,966 countSlovenia7,966Croatia: 7,862 countCroatia7,862Latvia: 7,681 countLatvia7,681Estonia: 4,770 countEstonia4,770Cyprus: 3,246 countCyprus3,246Luxembourg: 2,260 countLuxembourg2,260Malta: 1,880 countMalta1,880Germany: 221,234 countGermany221,234France: 201,305 countFrance201,305Portugal: 181,109 countPortugal181,109Spain: 163,860 countSpain163,860Italy: 153,773 countItaly153,773Poland: 86,530 countPoland86,530Netherlands: 81,202 countNetherlands81,202Belgium: 45,222 countBelgium45,222Hungary: 45,216 countHungary45,216Slovakia: 37,401 countSlovakia37,401Sweden: 36,822 countSweden36,822Czechia: 33,961 countCzechia33,961Romania: 22,825 countRomania22,825Greece: 20,453 countGreece20,453Denmark: 19,091 countDenmark19,091Ireland: 19,050 countIreland19,050Austria: 15,991 countAustria15,991Finland: 14,212 countFinland14,212Bulgaria: 11,628 countBulgaria11,628Lithuania: 9,666 countLithuania9,666Slovenia: 7,966 countSlovenia7,966Croatia: 7,862 countCroatia7,862Latvia: 7,681 countLatvia7,681Estonia: 4,770 countEstonia4,770Cyprus: 3,246 countCyprus3,246Luxembourg: 2,260 countLuxembourg2,260Malta: 1,880 countMalta1,880
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 countries2018
count		Change on 2017
1Germany Series break221,234+5%
2France201,305+1.9%
3Portugal181,109+2.6%
4Spain Series break163,860-0.5%
5Italy153,773+5.2%
6Poland Series break86,530+12.5%
7Netherlands81,202+7.5%
8Belgium Series break45,222+10.4%
9Hungary Series break45,216+9.5%
10Slovakia37,401+9%
11Sweden Series break36,822-7.8%
12Czechia33,961+5.9%
13Romania Series break22,825+2.4%
14Greece Series break20,453+3.9%
15Denmark19,091+3.3%
16Ireland19,050+1.8%
17Austria Series break15,991-3.5%
18Finland14,212-0.1%
19Bulgaria Series break11,628+1.9%
20Lithuania Series break9,666+5.9%
21Slovenia7,966+3.2%
22Croatia7,862+5.6%
23Latvia7,681-1.3%
24Estonia Series break4,770-1.3%
25Cyprus3,246+7.7%
26Luxembourg2,260+1.7%
27Malta1,880+5.5%

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, 2018) [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, 2018. 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=2018. 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, 2018. 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=2018.

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, 2018 [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=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_enterprises_2018,
  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, 2018}},
  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=2018. 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, 2018
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=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprises-administrative-support/eu-countries?period=2018.
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  -
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Questions

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

Germany, with 221,234 in 2018, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

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

Malta, with 1,880 in 2018.

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.

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