Data / Rankings / Enterprises in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation / EU countries

EU countries by enterprises in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation

France had the highest enterprises in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation of 27 EU countries in 2016, at 12,834. Luxembourg had the lowest, at 66. The median was 1,458 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 72,923. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

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Highest12,834France
Lowest66Luxembourg
Median1,45827 EU countries
European Union (27)72,923History

Map of EU countries, 2016

Austria: 2,170 countBelgium: 1,268 countBulgaria: 820 countCyprus: 190 countCzechia: 6,424 countGermany: 5,526 countDenmark: 2,552 countEstonia: 281 countSpain: 6,682 countFinland: 1,458 countFrance: 12,834 countGreece: 2,117 countCroatia: 837 countHungary: 1,822 countIreland: 1,008 countItaly: 9,262 countLithuania: 424 countLuxembourg: 66 countLatvia: 357 countMalta: 147 countNetherlands: 1,812 countPoland: 7,382 countPortugal: 1,229 countRomania: 2,968 countSweden: 1,501 countSlovenia: 415 countSlovakia: 1,371 count
  • Under 400
  • 400 to 1,200
  • 1,200 to 1,800
  • 1,800 to 5,000
  • 5,000 and over
count, 2016. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev. 2 section E), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2016

France: 12,834 countFrance12,834Italy: 9,262 countItaly9,262Poland: 7,382 countPoland7,382Spain: 6,682 countSpain6,682Czechia: 6,424 countCzechia6,424Germany: 5,526 countGermany5,526Romania: 2,968 countRomania2,968Denmark: 2,552 countDenmark2,552Austria: 2,170 countAustria2,170Greece: 2,117 countGreece2,117Hungary: 1,822 countHungary1,822Netherlands: 1,812 countNetherlands1,812Sweden: 1,501 countSweden1,501Finland: 1,458 countFinland1,458Slovakia: 1,371 countSlovakia1,371Belgium: 1,268 countBelgium1,268Portugal: 1,229 countPortugal1,229Ireland: 1,008 countIreland1,008Croatia: 837 countCroatia837Bulgaria: 820 countBulgaria820Lithuania: 424 countLithuania424Slovenia: 415 countSlovenia415Latvia: 357 countLatvia357Estonia: 281 countEstonia281Cyprus: 190 countCyprus190Malta: 147 countMalta147Luxembourg: 66 countLuxembourg66France: 12,834 countFrance12,834Italy: 9,262 countItaly9,262Poland: 7,382 countPoland7,382Spain: 6,682 countSpain6,682Czechia: 6,424 countCzechia6,424Germany: 5,526 countGermany5,526Romania: 2,968 countRomania2,968Denmark: 2,552 countDenmark2,552Austria: 2,170 countAustria2,170Greece: 2,117 countGreece2,117Hungary: 1,822 countHungary1,822Netherlands: 1,812 countNetherlands1,812Sweden: 1,501 countSweden1,501Finland: 1,458 countFinland1,458Slovakia: 1,371 countSlovakia1,371Belgium: 1,268 countBelgium1,268Portugal: 1,229 countPortugal1,229Ireland: 1,008 countIreland1,008Croatia: 837 countCroatia837Bulgaria: 820 countBulgaria820Lithuania: 424 countLithuania424Slovenia: 415 countSlovenia415Latvia: 357 countLatvia357Estonia: 281 countEstonia281Cyprus: 190 countCyprus190Malta: 147 countMalta147Luxembourg: 66 countLuxembourg66
count. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev. 2 section E), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankEU countries2016
count		Change on 2015
1France12,834+4.3%
2Italy9,262+0.3%
3Poland7,382-0.8%
4Spain6,682+3.6%
5Czechia6,424+4.2%
6Germany5,526+2.6%
7Romania2,968-2.7%
8Denmark2,552+0.1%
9Austria2,170+6.9%
10Greece2,117+0.6%
11Hungary1,822-1.8%
12Netherlands1,812+7.8%
13Sweden1,501+2.6%
14Finland1,458-0.5%
15Slovakia1,371+23.3%
16Belgium1,268-0.6%
17Portugal1,229-2.6%
18Ireland1,008-0.6%
19Croatia837-1.9%
20Bulgaria820+4.1%
21Lithuania424+0.7%
22Slovenia415+3.5%
23Latvia357-1.7%
24Estonia281-0.4%
25Cyprus190+3.3%
26Malta147-2%
27Luxembourg66+3.1%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of enterprises active at any time during the year in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev.

More on how it is measured
  • 2 section E), 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), Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev. 2 section E), 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), Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev. 2 section E), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2) (EU countries by enterprises in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation, 2016) [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), Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev. 2 section E), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by enterprises in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation, 2016. 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-water-waste/eu-countries?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2024. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev. 2 section E), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). EU countries by enterprises in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation, 2016. 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-water-waste/eu-countries?period=2016.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2024) Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev. 2 section E), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by enterprises in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_na_sca_r2/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprises-water-waste/eu-countries?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_enterprises_2016,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev. 2 section E), enterprises, number (sbs\_na\_sca\_r2): EU countries by enterprises in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation, 2016}},
  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-water-waste/eu-countries?period=2016. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev. 2 section E), 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), Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev. 2 section E), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2): EU countries by enterprises in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation, 2016
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-water-waste/eu-countries?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprises-water-waste/eu-countries?period=2016.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev. 2 section E), 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 water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation?

France, with 12,834 in 2016, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest enterprises in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation?

Luxembourg, with 66 in 2016.

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), Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev. 2 section E), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

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