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 2014, at 705,895. Malta had the lowest, at 3,265. The median was 62,729 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 3.89 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

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Highest705,895Italy
Lowest3,265Malta
Median62,72927 EU countries
European Union (27)3,893,128History

Map of EU countries, 2014

Austria: 64,619 countBelgium: 136,913 countBulgaria: 38,935 countCyprus: 5,906 countCzechia: 175,633 countGermany: 460,074 countDenmark: 33,082 countEstonia: 11,462 countSpain: 335,165 countFinland: 35,333 countFrance: 515,894 countGreece: 161,779 countCroatia: 23,236 countHungary: 112,823 countIreland: 38,795 countItaly: 705,895 countLithuania: 25,143 countLuxembourg: 7,926 countLatvia: 17,513 countMalta: 3,265 countNetherlands: 314,906 countPoland: 233,908 countPortugal: 113,358 countRomania: 56,886 countSweden: 173,099 countSlovenia: 28,849 countSlovakia: 62,729 count
  • Under 24K
  • 24K to 39K
  • 39K to 110K
  • 110K to 220K
  • 220K and over
count, 2014. 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, 2014

Italy: 705,895 countItaly705,895France: 515,894 countFrance515,894Germany: 460,074 countGermany460,074Spain: 335,165 countSpain335,165Netherlands: 314,906 countNetherlands314,906Poland: 233,908 countPoland233,908Czechia: 175,633 countCzechia175,633Sweden: 173,099 countSweden173,099Greece: 161,779 countGreece161,779Belgium: 136,913 countBelgium136,913Portugal: 113,358 countPortugal113,358Hungary: 112,823 countHungary112,823Austria: 64,619 countAustria64,619Slovakia: 62,729 countSlovakia62,729Romania: 56,886 countRomania56,886Bulgaria: 38,935 countBulgaria38,935Ireland: 38,795 countIreland38,795Finland: 35,333 countFinland35,333Denmark: 33,082 countDenmark33,082Slovenia: 28,849 countSlovenia28,849Lithuania: 25,143 countLithuania25,143Croatia: 23,236 countCroatia23,236Latvia: 17,513 countLatvia17,513Estonia: 11,462 countEstonia11,462Luxembourg: 7,926 countLuxembourg7,926Cyprus: 5,906 countCyprus5,906Malta: 3,265 countMalta3,265Italy: 705,895 countItaly705,895France: 515,894 countFrance515,894Germany: 460,074 countGermany460,074Spain: 335,165 countSpain335,165Netherlands: 314,906 countNetherlands314,906Poland: 233,908 countPoland233,908Czechia: 175,633 countCzechia175,633Sweden: 173,099 countSweden173,099Greece: 161,779 countGreece161,779Belgium: 136,913 countBelgium136,913Portugal: 113,358 countPortugal113,358Hungary: 112,823 countHungary112,823Austria: 64,619 countAustria64,619Slovakia: 62,729 countSlovakia62,729Romania: 56,886 countRomania56,886Bulgaria: 38,935 countBulgaria38,935Ireland: 38,795 countIreland38,795Finland: 35,333 countFinland35,333Denmark: 33,082 countDenmark33,082Slovenia: 28,849 countSlovenia28,849Lithuania: 25,143 countLithuania25,143Croatia: 23,236 countCroatia23,236Latvia: 17,513 countLatvia17,513Estonia: 11,462 countEstonia11,462Luxembourg: 7,926 countLuxembourg7,926Cyprus: 5,906 countCyprus5,906Malta: 3,265 countMalta3,265
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 countries2014
count
Change on 2013
1Italy705,895+2.1%
2France Series break515,894+3.5%
3Germany460,074+15%
4Spain335,165-3%
5Netherlands314,906+4.4%
6Poland233,908+8.1%
7Czechia175,633+2.6%
8Sweden173,099+2.9%
9Greece161,779+54.1%
10Belgium136,913+12.1%
11Portugal113,358+2%
12Hungary112,823+9.7%
13Austria64,619+1.1%
14Slovakia62,729+14.8%
15Romania56,886+5.5%
16Bulgaria38,935+3.3%
17Ireland38,795-0.3%
18Finland35,333-0.5%
19Denmark33,082+2.3%
20Slovenia28,849+5.1%
21Lithuania25,143+26.5%
22Croatia23,236+3.7%
23Latvia17,513+4.6%
24Estonia11,462+5.2%
25Luxembourg7,926+3.3%
26Cyprus5,906+6.7%
27Malta3,265+8.3%

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, 2014) [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, 2014. 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=2014. 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, 2014. 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=2014.

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, 2014 [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=2014 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_enterprises_2014,
  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, 2014}},
  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=2014. 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, 2014
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=2014
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprises-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2014.
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 705,895 in 2014, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

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

Malta, with 3,265 in 2014.

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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