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 2021, at 833,044. Malta had the lowest, at 7,335. The median was 91,868 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 4.8 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

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Highest833,044Italy
Lowest7,335Malta
Median91,86827 EU countries
European Union (27)4,799,912History

Map of EU countries, 2021

Austria: 91,868 countBelgium: 182,705 countBulgaria: 45,519 countCyprus: 11,154 countCzechia: 205,781 countGermany: 471,160 countDenmark: 39,051 countEstonia: 21,912 countSpain: 436,344 countFinland: 66,110 countFrance: 578,651 countGreece: 148,596 countCroatia: 35,780 countHungary: 169,314 countIreland: 49,583 countItaly: 833,044 countLithuania: 40,140 countLuxembourg: 10,621 countLatvia: 19,174 countMalta: 7,335 countNetherlands: 417,435 countPoland: 355,361 countPortugal: 141,520 countRomania: 108,304 countSweden: 185,356 countSlovenia: 37,870 countSlovakia: 90,224 count
  • Under 36K
  • 36K to 56K
  • 56K to 150K
  • 150K to 330K
  • 330K and over
count, 2021. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics, Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), enterprises, number (sbs_ovw_act). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2021

Italy: 833,044 countItaly833,044France: 578,651 countFrance578,651Germany: 471,160 countGermany471,160Spain: 436,344 countSpain436,344Netherlands: 417,435 countNetherlands417,435Poland: 355,361 countPoland355,361Czechia: 205,781 countCzechia205,781Sweden: 185,356 countSweden185,356Belgium: 182,705 countBelgium182,705Hungary: 169,314 countHungary169,314Greece: 148,596 countGreece148,596Portugal: 141,520 countPortugal141,520Romania: 108,304 countRomania108,304Austria: 91,868 countAustria91,868Slovakia: 90,224 countSlovakia90,224Finland: 66,110 countFinland66,110Ireland: 49,583 countIreland49,583Bulgaria: 45,519 countBulgaria45,519Lithuania: 40,140 countLithuania40,140Denmark: 39,051 countDenmark39,051Slovenia: 37,870 countSlovenia37,870Croatia: 35,780 countCroatia35,780Estonia: 21,912 countEstonia21,912Latvia: 19,174 countLatvia19,174Cyprus: 11,154 countCyprus11,154Luxembourg: 10,621 countLuxembourg10,621Malta: 7,335 countMalta7,335Italy: 833,044 countItaly833,044France: 578,651 countFrance578,651Germany: 471,160 countGermany471,160Spain: 436,344 countSpain436,344Netherlands: 417,435 countNetherlands417,435Poland: 355,361 countPoland355,361Czechia: 205,781 countCzechia205,781Sweden: 185,356 countSweden185,356Belgium: 182,705 countBelgium182,705Hungary: 169,314 countHungary169,314Greece: 148,596 countGreece148,596Portugal: 141,520 countPortugal141,520Romania: 108,304 countRomania108,304Austria: 91,868 countAustria91,868Slovakia: 90,224 countSlovakia90,224Finland: 66,110 countFinland66,110Ireland: 49,583 countIreland49,583Bulgaria: 45,519 countBulgaria45,519Lithuania: 40,140 countLithuania40,140Denmark: 39,051 countDenmark39,051Slovenia: 37,870 countSlovenia37,870Croatia: 35,780 countCroatia35,780Estonia: 21,912 countEstonia21,912Latvia: 19,174 countLatvia19,174Cyprus: 11,154 countCyprus11,154Luxembourg: 10,621 countLuxembourg10,621Malta: 7,335 countMalta7,335
count. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics, Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), enterprises, number (sbs_ovw_act). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankEU countries2021
count		Change on 2020
1Italy Series break833,044+6.8%
2France Series break578,651+6.9%
3Germany Series break471,160+4.4%
4Spain Series break436,344+2.6%
5Netherlands Series break417,435+1%
6Poland Series break355,361+5.3%
7Czechia Series break205,781+1.6%
8Sweden Series break185,356+2.4%
9Belgium Series break182,705+10.9%
10Hungary Series break169,314+10%
11Greece Series break148,596+5.9%
12Portugal Series break141,520+5.5%
13Romania Series break108,304+47.6%
14Austria Series break91,868+34.1%
15Slovakia Series break90,224+3.3%
16Finland Series break66,110+70.4%
17Ireland Series break49,583+6.1%
18Bulgaria Series break45,519-2.4%
19Lithuania Series break40,140+8.6%
20Denmark Series break39,051+3.2%
21Slovenia Series break37,870+2.9%
22Croatia Series break35,780+7.1%
23Estonia Series break21,912+43.2%
24Latvia Series break19,174-6%
25Cyprus Series break11,154+8.2%
26Luxembourg Series break10,621+1.8%
27Malta Series break7,335+38%

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, Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), enterprises, number (sbs_ovw_act). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_ovw_act/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. (2026). Structural business statistics, Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), enterprises, number (sbs_ovw_act) (EU countries by enterprises in professional, scientific and technical activities, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_ovw_act/default/table

MLA 9

Structural business statistics, Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), enterprises, number (sbs_ovw_act), EU countries by enterprises in professional, scientific and technical activities, 2021. Eurostat, European Commission, 30 Sept. 2026, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_ovw_act/default/table. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprises-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Structural business statistics, Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), enterprises, number (sbs_ovw_act). EU countries by enterprises in professional, scientific and technical activities, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_ovw_act/default/table. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprises-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2021.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Structural business statistics, Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), enterprises, number (sbs_ovw_act), EU countries by enterprises in professional, scientific and technical activities, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_ovw_act/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprises-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_enterprises_2021,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Structural business statistics, Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), enterprises, number (sbs\_ovw\_act): EU countries by enterprises in professional, scientific and technical activities, 2021}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_ovw_act/default/table},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprises-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2021. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics, Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), enterprises, number (sbs\_ovw\_act). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs\_ovw\_act/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Eurostat, European Commission
TI  - Structural business statistics, Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), enterprises, number (sbs_ovw_act): EU countries by enterprises in professional, scientific and technical activities, 2021
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/30
PB  - Eurostat, European Commission
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_ovw_act/default/table
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprises-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprises-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics, Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), enterprises, number (sbs_ovw_act). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_ovw_act/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 833,044 in 2021, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

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

Malta, with 7,335 in 2021.

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

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