Data / Rankings / Enterprises in professional, scientific and technical activities / EU countries

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 2018, at 765,403. Malta had the lowest, at 4,881. The median was 66,671 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 4.31 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

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Highest765,403Italy
Lowest4,881Malta
Median66,67127 EU countries
European Union (27)4,310,784History

Map of EU countries, 2018

Austria: 62,939 countBelgium: 153,092 countBulgaria: 45,605 countCyprus: 8,763 countCzechia: 196,717 countGermany: 500,226 countDenmark: 36,791 countEstonia: 14,256 countSpain: 411,883 countFinland: 36,614 countFrance: 489,118 countGreece: 135,486 countCroatia: 26,319 countHungary: 138,647 countIreland: 43,635 countItaly: 765,403 countLithuania: 32,711 countLuxembourg: 9,380 countLatvia: 20,235 countMalta: 4,881 countNetherlands: 373,678 countPoland: 318,059 countPortugal: 128,466 countRomania: 66,671 countSweden: 174,397 countSlovenia: 35,322 countSlovakia: 81,327 count
  • Under 28K
  • 28K to 44K
  • 44K to 130K
  • 130K to 290K
  • 290K and over
count, 2018. 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, 2018

Italy: 765,403 countItaly765,403Germany: 500,226 countGermany500,226France: 489,118 countFrance489,118Spain: 411,883 countSpain411,883Netherlands: 373,678 countNetherlands373,678Poland: 318,059 countPoland318,059Czechia: 196,717 countCzechia196,717Sweden: 174,397 countSweden174,397Belgium: 153,092 countBelgium153,092Hungary: 138,647 countHungary138,647Greece: 135,486 countGreece135,486Portugal: 128,466 countPortugal128,466Slovakia: 81,327 countSlovakia81,327Romania: 66,671 countRomania66,671Austria: 62,939 countAustria62,939Bulgaria: 45,605 countBulgaria45,605Ireland: 43,635 countIreland43,635Denmark: 36,791 countDenmark36,791Finland: 36,614 countFinland36,614Slovenia: 35,322 countSlovenia35,322Lithuania: 32,711 countLithuania32,711Croatia: 26,319 countCroatia26,319Latvia: 20,235 countLatvia20,235Estonia: 14,256 countEstonia14,256Luxembourg: 9,380 countLuxembourg9,380Cyprus: 8,763 countCyprus8,763Malta: 4,881 countMalta4,881Italy: 765,403 countItaly765,403Germany: 500,226 countGermany500,226France: 489,118 countFrance489,118Spain: 411,883 countSpain411,883Netherlands: 373,678 countNetherlands373,678Poland: 318,059 countPoland318,059Czechia: 196,717 countCzechia196,717Sweden: 174,397 countSweden174,397Belgium: 153,092 countBelgium153,092Hungary: 138,647 countHungary138,647Greece: 135,486 countGreece135,486Portugal: 128,466 countPortugal128,466Slovakia: 81,327 countSlovakia81,327Romania: 66,671 countRomania66,671Austria: 62,939 countAustria62,939Bulgaria: 45,605 countBulgaria45,605Ireland: 43,635 countIreland43,635Denmark: 36,791 countDenmark36,791Finland: 36,614 countFinland36,614Slovenia: 35,322 countSlovenia35,322Lithuania: 32,711 countLithuania32,711Croatia: 26,319 countCroatia26,319Latvia: 20,235 countLatvia20,235Estonia: 14,256 countEstonia14,256Luxembourg: 9,380 countLuxembourg9,380Cyprus: 8,763 countCyprus8,763Malta: 4,881 countMalta4,881
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 countries2018
count		Change on 2017
1Italy765,403+2.2%
2Germany Series break500,226-2.6%
3France489,118+7.4%
4Spain Series break411,883+3.6%
5Netherlands373,678+5.9%
6Poland Series break318,059+14.7%
7Czechia196,717+4.4%
8Sweden Series break174,397-5.7%
9Belgium Series break153,092-0.6%
10Hungary Series break138,647+6.1%
11Greece Series break135,486-1.3%
12Portugal128,466+2.3%
13Slovakia81,327+6.7%
14Romania Series break66,671+5.2%
15Austria Series break62,939-7%
16Bulgaria Series break45,605+2.7%
17Ireland43,635+0.1%
18Denmark36,791+1.6%
19Finland36,614-0.1%
20Slovenia35,322+3.6%
21Lithuania Series break32,711+7.3%
22Croatia26,319+3.4%
23Latvia20,235+1.1%
24Estonia Series break14,256+4.4%
25Luxembourg9,380+3.7%
26Cyprus8,763+10.9%
27Malta4,881+10.8%

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, 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), 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, 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-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2018. 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, 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-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2018.

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

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_enterprises_2018,
  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, 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-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2018. 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, 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-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprises-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2018.
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 765,403 in 2018, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

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

Malta, with 4,881 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), Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

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