EU countries by enterprises in information and communication

Germany had the highest enterprises in information and communication of 27 EU countries in 2017, at 132,769. Malta had the lowest, at 1,416. The median was 17,988 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 1.02 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

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Highest132,769Germany
Lowest1,416Malta
Median17,98827 EU countries
European Union (27)1,020,448History

Map of EU countries, 2017

Austria: 19,659 countBelgium: 34,443 countBulgaria: 13,471 countCyprus: 1,605 countCzechia: 46,204 countGermany: 132,769 countDenmark: 17,988 countEstonia: 5,536 countSpain: 71,517 countFinland: 10,548 countFrance: 128,131 countGreece: 16,726 countCroatia: 6,891 countHungary: 41,811 countIreland: 15,953 countItaly: 101,941 countLithuania: 7,743 countLuxembourg: 2,485 countLatvia: 6,934 countMalta: 1,416 countNetherlands: 95,597 countPoland: 105,754 countPortugal: 17,837 countRomania: 23,837 countSweden: 61,779 countSlovenia: 9,545 countSlovakia: 22,363 count
  • Under 7,000
  • 7,000 to 16K
  • 16K to 23K
  • 23K to 70K
  • 70K and over
count, 2017. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2017

Germany: 132,769 countGermany132,769France: 128,131 countFrance128,131Poland: 105,754 countPoland105,754Italy: 101,941 countItaly101,941Netherlands: 95,597 countNetherlands95,597Spain: 71,517 countSpain71,517Sweden: 61,779 countSweden61,779Czechia: 46,204 countCzechia46,204Hungary: 41,811 countHungary41,811Belgium: 34,443 countBelgium34,443Romania: 23,837 countRomania23,837Slovakia: 22,363 countSlovakia22,363Austria: 19,659 countAustria19,659Denmark: 17,988 countDenmark17,988Portugal: 17,837 countPortugal17,837Greece: 16,726 countGreece16,726Ireland: 15,953 countIreland15,953Bulgaria: 13,471 countBulgaria13,471Finland: 10,548 countFinland10,548Slovenia: 9,545 countSlovenia9,545Lithuania: 7,743 countLithuania7,743Latvia: 6,934 countLatvia6,934Croatia: 6,891 countCroatia6,891Estonia: 5,536 countEstonia5,536Luxembourg: 2,485 countLuxembourg2,485Cyprus: 1,605 countCyprus1,605Malta: 1,416 countMalta1,416Germany: 132,769 countGermany132,769France: 128,131 countFrance128,131Poland: 105,754 countPoland105,754Italy: 101,941 countItaly101,941Netherlands: 95,597 countNetherlands95,597Spain: 71,517 countSpain71,517Sweden: 61,779 countSweden61,779Czechia: 46,204 countCzechia46,204Hungary: 41,811 countHungary41,811Belgium: 34,443 countBelgium34,443Romania: 23,837 countRomania23,837Slovakia: 22,363 countSlovakia22,363Austria: 19,659 countAustria19,659Denmark: 17,988 countDenmark17,988Portugal: 17,837 countPortugal17,837Greece: 16,726 countGreece16,726Ireland: 15,953 countIreland15,953Bulgaria: 13,471 countBulgaria13,471Finland: 10,548 countFinland10,548Slovenia: 9,545 countSlovenia9,545Lithuania: 7,743 countLithuania7,743Latvia: 6,934 countLatvia6,934Croatia: 6,891 countCroatia6,891Estonia: 5,536 countEstonia5,536Luxembourg: 2,485 countLuxembourg2,485Cyprus: 1,605 countCyprus1,605Malta: 1,416 countMalta1,416
count. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankEU countries2017
count
Change on 2016
1Germany132,769+7.5%
2France Series break128,131-4.3%
3Poland105,754+12.4%
4Italy Series break101,941+0.7%
5Netherlands95,597+3%
6Spain71,517+6.1%
7Sweden61,779+2.3%
8Czechia46,204+11.7%
9Hungary41,811+6.8%
10Belgium34,443+7.4%
11Romania23,837+8.3%
12Slovakia22,363+10.8%
13Austria19,659+6.2%
14Denmark17,988+5%
15Portugal17,837+8.4%
16Greece16,726-12.3%
17Ireland15,953+9.5%
18Bulgaria13,471+6.5%
19Finland Series break10,548+3.9%
20Slovenia9,545+5%
21Lithuania7,743+12.4%
22Latvia6,934+0.9%
23Croatia6,891+3.7%
24Estonia5,536+15.3%
25Luxembourg2,485+5.1%
26Cyprus1,605+18.9%
27Malta1,416+9%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of enterprises active at any time during the year in information and communication (NACE Rev.

More on how it is measured
  • 2 section J), 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), Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), 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), Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2) (EU countries by enterprises in information and communication, 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), Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by enterprises in information and communication, 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-information-communication/eu-countries?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2024. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). EU countries by enterprises in information and communication, 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-information-communication/eu-countries?period=2017.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2024) Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by enterprises in information and communication, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_na_sca_r2/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprises-information-communication/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), Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), enterprises, number (sbs\_na\_sca\_r2): EU countries by enterprises in information and communication, 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-information-communication/eu-countries?period=2017. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), 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), Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2): EU countries by enterprises in information and communication, 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-information-communication/eu-countries?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprises-information-communication/eu-countries?period=2017.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), 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 information and communication?

Germany, with 132,769 in 2017, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest enterprises in information and communication?

Malta, with 1,416 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), Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

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