EU countries by enterprises in professional, scientific and technical activities

Italy had the highest enterprises in professional, scientific and technical activities of 27 EU countries in 2013, at 691,700. Malta had the lowest, at 3,015. The median was 54,662 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 3.66 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

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Highest691,700Italy
Lowest3,015Malta
Median54,66227 EU countries
European Union (27)3,664,986History

Map of EU countries, 2013

Austria: 63,914 countBelgium: 122,127 countBulgaria: 37,698 countCyprus: 5,536 countCzechia: 171,258 countGermany: 400,049 countDenmark: 32,348 countEstonia: 10,899 countSpain: 345,604 countFinland: 35,515 countFrance: 498,403 countGreece: 105,002 countCroatia: 22,398 countHungary: 102,863 countIreland: 38,911 countItaly: 691,700 countLithuania: 19,875 countLuxembourg: 7,674 countLatvia: 16,739 countMalta: 3,015 countNetherlands: 301,740 countPoland: 216,385 countPortugal: 111,126 countRomania: 53,925 countSweden: 168,169 countSlovenia: 27,450 countSlovakia: 54,662 count
  • Under 20K
  • 20K to 38K
  • 38K to 100K
  • 100K to 210K
  • 210K and over
count, 2013. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2013

Italy: 691,700 countItaly691,700France: 498,403 countFrance498,403Germany: 400,049 countGermany400,049Spain: 345,604 countSpain345,604Netherlands: 301,740 countNetherlands301,740Poland: 216,385 countPoland216,385Czechia: 171,258 countCzechia171,258Sweden: 168,169 countSweden168,169Belgium: 122,127 countBelgium122,127Portugal: 111,126 countPortugal111,126Greece: 105,002 countGreece105,002Hungary: 102,863 countHungary102,863Austria: 63,914 countAustria63,914Slovakia: 54,662 countSlovakia54,662Romania: 53,925 countRomania53,925Ireland: 38,911 countIreland38,911Bulgaria: 37,698 countBulgaria37,698Finland: 35,515 countFinland35,515Denmark: 32,348 countDenmark32,348Slovenia: 27,450 countSlovenia27,450Croatia: 22,398 countCroatia22,398Lithuania: 19,875 countLithuania19,875Latvia: 16,739 countLatvia16,739Estonia: 10,899 countEstonia10,899Luxembourg: 7,674 countLuxembourg7,674Cyprus: 5,536 countCyprus5,536Malta: 3,015 countMalta3,015Italy: 691,700 countItaly691,700France: 498,403 countFrance498,403Germany: 400,049 countGermany400,049Spain: 345,604 countSpain345,604Netherlands: 301,740 countNetherlands301,740Poland: 216,385 countPoland216,385Czechia: 171,258 countCzechia171,258Sweden: 168,169 countSweden168,169Belgium: 122,127 countBelgium122,127Portugal: 111,126 countPortugal111,126Greece: 105,002 countGreece105,002Hungary: 102,863 countHungary102,863Austria: 63,914 countAustria63,914Slovakia: 54,662 countSlovakia54,662Romania: 53,925 countRomania53,925Ireland: 38,911 countIreland38,911Bulgaria: 37,698 countBulgaria37,698Finland: 35,515 countFinland35,515Denmark: 32,348 countDenmark32,348Slovenia: 27,450 countSlovenia27,450Croatia: 22,398 countCroatia22,398Lithuania: 19,875 countLithuania19,875Latvia: 16,739 countLatvia16,739Estonia: 10,899 countEstonia10,899Luxembourg: 7,674 countLuxembourg7,674Cyprus: 5,536 countCyprus5,536Malta: 3,015 countMalta3,015
count. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankEU countries2013
count
Change on 2012
1Italy691,700-2.6%
2France498,403+5.8%
3Germany400,049+5.2%
4Spain345,604+0.5%
5Netherlands301,740+27%
6Poland216,385+2.4%
7Czechia171,258-0.5%
8Sweden168,169+0.6%
9Belgium122,127+6.8%
10Portugal111,126-1.4%
11Greece105,002-5.6%
12Hungary102,863-6.2%
13Austria63,914+3.3%
14Slovakia54,662+4.1%
15Romania53,925+3%
16Ireland38,911+0.3%
17Bulgaria37,698+2.7%
18Finland Series break35,515+1.8%
19Denmark32,348+0.2%
20Slovenia27,450+11.6%
21Croatia22,398+6.3%
22Lithuania19,875+11%
23Latvia16,739+6.7%
24Estonia10,899+8.3%
25Luxembourg7,674+7.6%
26Cyprus5,536+3.7%
27Malta3,015-10.7%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of enterprises active at any time during the year in professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev.

More on how it is measured
  • 2 section M), 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), Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), 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), Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2) (EU countries by enterprises in professional, scientific and technical activities, 2013) [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), Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by enterprises in professional, scientific and technical activities, 2013. 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-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2013. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2024. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). EU countries by enterprises in professional, scientific and technical activities, 2013. 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-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2013.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2024) Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by enterprises in professional, scientific and technical activities, 2013 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_na_sca_r2/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprises-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2013 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_enterprises_2013,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), enterprises, number (sbs\_na\_sca\_r2): EU countries by enterprises in professional, scientific and technical activities, 2013}},
  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-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2013. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), 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), Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2): EU countries by enterprises in professional, scientific and technical activities, 2013
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-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2013
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprises-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2013.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), 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 professional, scientific and technical activities?

Italy, with 691,700 in 2013, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest enterprises in professional, scientific and technical activities?

Malta, with 3,015 in 2013.

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), Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

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