Data / Rankings / Enterprises in manufacturing / EU countries

EU countries by enterprises in manufacturing

Italy had the highest enterprises in manufacturing of 27 EU countries in 2018, at 377,730. Luxembourg had the lowest, at 762. The median was 32,223 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 2.03 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest377,730Italy
Lowest762Luxembourg
Median32,22327 EU countries
European Union (27)2,025,318History

Map of EU countries, 2018

Austria: 25,024 countBelgium: 32,223 countBulgaria: 31,390 countCyprus: 5,060 countCzechia: 180,193 countGermany: 206,043 countDenmark: 15,407 countEstonia: 7,363 countSpain: 171,994 countFinland: 19,849 countFrance: 203,013 countGreece: 57,061 countCroatia: 19,750 countHungary: 52,105 countIreland: 16,542 countItaly: 377,730 countLithuania: 20,997 countLuxembourg: 762 countLatvia: 11,018 countMalta: 2,189 countNetherlands: 70,497 countPoland: 233,522 countPortugal: 68,214 countRomania: 52,365 countSweden: 47,297 countSlovenia: 19,671 countSlovakia: 77,954 count
  • Under 16K
  • 16K to 23K
  • 23K to 52K
  • 52K to 150K
  • 150K and over
count, 2018. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2018

Italy: 377,730 countItaly377,730Poland: 233,522 countPoland233,522Germany: 206,043 countGermany206,043France: 203,013 countFrance203,013Czechia: 180,193 countCzechia180,193Spain: 171,994 countSpain171,994Slovakia: 77,954 countSlovakia77,954Netherlands: 70,497 countNetherlands70,497Portugal: 68,214 countPortugal68,214Greece: 57,061 countGreece57,061Romania: 52,365 countRomania52,365Hungary: 52,105 countHungary52,105Sweden: 47,297 countSweden47,297Belgium: 32,223 countBelgium32,223Bulgaria: 31,390 countBulgaria31,390Austria: 25,024 countAustria25,024Lithuania: 20,997 countLithuania20,997Finland: 19,849 countFinland19,849Croatia: 19,750 countCroatia19,750Slovenia: 19,671 countSlovenia19,671Ireland: 16,542 countIreland16,542Denmark: 15,407 countDenmark15,407Latvia: 11,018 countLatvia11,018Estonia: 7,363 countEstonia7,363Cyprus: 5,060 countCyprus5,060Malta: 2,189 countMalta2,189Luxembourg: 762 countLuxembourg762Italy: 377,730 countItaly377,730Poland: 233,522 countPoland233,522Germany: 206,043 countGermany206,043France: 203,013 countFrance203,013Czechia: 180,193 countCzechia180,193Spain: 171,994 countSpain171,994Slovakia: 77,954 countSlovakia77,954Netherlands: 70,497 countNetherlands70,497Portugal: 68,214 countPortugal68,214Greece: 57,061 countGreece57,061Romania: 52,365 countRomania52,365Hungary: 52,105 countHungary52,105Sweden: 47,297 countSweden47,297Belgium: 32,223 countBelgium32,223Bulgaria: 31,390 countBulgaria31,390Austria: 25,024 countAustria25,024Lithuania: 20,997 countLithuania20,997Finland: 19,849 countFinland19,849Croatia: 19,750 countCroatia19,750Slovenia: 19,671 countSlovenia19,671Ireland: 16,542 countIreland16,542Denmark: 15,407 countDenmark15,407Latvia: 11,018 countLatvia11,018Estonia: 7,363 countEstonia7,363Cyprus: 5,060 countCyprus5,060Malta: 2,189 countMalta2,189Luxembourg: 762 countLuxembourg762
count. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankEU countries2018
count		Change on 2017
1Italy377,730-1.5%
2Poland Series break233,522+17.5%
3Germany Series break206,043+8.1%
4France203,013+2.7%
5Czechia180,193+2.4%
6Spain Series break171,994+1.9%
7Slovakia77,954+7.4%
8Netherlands70,497+5.8%
9Portugal68,214+1%
10Greece Series break57,061-0.5%
11Romania Series break52,365+5.1%
12Hungary Series break52,105+2.6%
13Sweden Series break47,297-11.9%
14Belgium Series break32,223-12.4%
15Bulgaria Series break31,390+0.4%
16Austria Series break25,024-1.8%
17Lithuania Series break20,997+3.6%
18Finland19,849-1.6%
19Croatia19,750+1.1%
20Slovenia19,671+1.5%
21Ireland16,542-1%
22Denmark15,407+0.4%
23Latvia11,018+0.9%
24Estonia Series break7,363-1.9%
25Cyprus5,060+0.7%
26Malta2,189-2.7%
27Luxembourg762-1.2%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of enterprises active at any time during the year in manufacturing (NACE Rev.

More on how it is measured
  • 2 section C), 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), Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), 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), Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2) (EU countries by enterprises in manufacturing, 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), Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by enterprises in manufacturing, 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-manufacturing/eu-countries?period=2018. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2024. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). EU countries by enterprises in manufacturing, 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-manufacturing/eu-countries?period=2018.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2024) Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by enterprises in manufacturing, 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_na_sca_r2/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprises-manufacturing/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), Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), enterprises, number (sbs\_na\_sca\_r2): EU countries by enterprises in manufacturing, 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-manufacturing/eu-countries?period=2018. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), 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), Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2): EU countries by enterprises in manufacturing, 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-manufacturing/eu-countries?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprises-manufacturing/eu-countries?period=2018.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), 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 manufacturing using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"sbs_enterprises_manufacturing","level":"country","within":"European Union (27)","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=sbs_enterprises_manufacturing&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 manufacturing?

Italy, with 377,730 in 2018, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest enterprises in manufacturing?

Luxembourg, with 762 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), Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

EU countries: more rankings