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 26 EU countries in 2018, at 10,864. Luxembourg had the lowest, at 59. The median was 1,494 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 76,000. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

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Highest10,864France
Lowest59Luxembourg
Median1,49426 EU countries
European Union (27)76,000History

Map of EU countries, 2018

Austria: 2,135 countBelgium: 1,220 countBulgaria: 774 countCyprus: 206 countCzechia: 6,796 countGermany: 10,395 countDenmark: 2,492 countEstonia: 270 countSpain: 6,501 countFinland: 1,489 countFrance: 10,864 countGreece: 1,939 countCroatia: 815 countHungary: 1,701 countIreland: 1,046 countItaly: 8,850 countLithuania: 418 countLuxembourg: 59 countLatvia: 361 countNetherlands: 2,053 countPoland: 8,247 countPortugal: 1,280 countRomania: 3,068 countSweden: 1,308 countSlovenia: 416 countSlovakia: 1,499 count
  • Under 400
  • 400 to 1,300
  • 1,300 to 1,900
  • 1,900 to 6,500
  • 6,500 and over
  • No data
count, 2018. Hatched areas have no value for this period. 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, 2018

France: 10,864 countFrance10,864Germany: 10,395 countGermany10,395Italy: 8,850 countItaly8,850Poland: 8,247 countPoland8,247Czechia: 6,796 countCzechia6,796Spain: 6,501 countSpain6,501Romania: 3,068 countRomania3,068Denmark: 2,492 countDenmark2,492Austria: 2,135 countAustria2,135Netherlands: 2,053 countNetherlands2,053Greece: 1,939 countGreece1,939Hungary: 1,701 countHungary1,701Slovakia: 1,499 countSlovakia1,499Finland: 1,489 countFinland1,489Sweden: 1,308 countSweden1,308Portugal: 1,280 countPortugal1,280Belgium: 1,220 countBelgium1,220Ireland: 1,046 countIreland1,046Croatia: 815 countCroatia815Bulgaria: 774 countBulgaria774Lithuania: 418 countLithuania418Slovenia: 416 countSlovenia416Latvia: 361 countLatvia361Estonia: 270 countEstonia270Cyprus: 206 countCyprus206Luxembourg: 59 countLuxembourg59France: 10,864 countFrance10,864Germany: 10,395 countGermany10,395Italy: 8,850 countItaly8,850Poland: 8,247 countPoland8,247Czechia: 6,796 countCzechia6,796Spain: 6,501 countSpain6,501Romania: 3,068 countRomania3,068Denmark: 2,492 countDenmark2,492Austria: 2,135 countAustria2,135Netherlands: 2,053 countNetherlands2,053Greece: 1,939 countGreece1,939Hungary: 1,701 countHungary1,701Slovakia: 1,499 countSlovakia1,499Finland: 1,489 countFinland1,489Sweden: 1,308 countSweden1,308Portugal: 1,280 countPortugal1,280Belgium: 1,220 countBelgium1,220Ireland: 1,046 countIreland1,046Croatia: 815 countCroatia815Bulgaria: 774 countBulgaria774Lithuania: 418 countLithuania418Slovenia: 416 countSlovenia416Latvia: 361 countLatvia361Estonia: 270 countEstonia270Cyprus: 206 countCyprus206Luxembourg: 59 countLuxembourg59
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 countries2018
count		Change on 2017
1France10,864-1%
2Germany Series break10,395+86.6%
3Italy8,850-1.2%
4Poland Series break8,247+6.5%
5Czechia6,796+4.6%
6Spain Series break6,501-4.6%
7Romania Series break3,068+1.5%
8Denmark2,492-1.3%
9Austria Series break2,135-3.3%
10Netherlands2,053+10.9%
11Greece Series break1,939+8.7%
12Hungary Series break1,701-3.1%
13Slovakia1,499+4.1%
14Finland1,489+0.6%
15Sweden Series break1,308-14.7%
16Portugal1,280+5%
17Belgium Series break1,220-15%
18Ireland1,046+1.8%
19Croatia8150%
20Bulgaria Series break774-2.4%
21Lithuania Series break418-3%
22Slovenia416-0.7%
23Latvia361+0.8%
24Estonia Series break270-4.3%
25Cyprus206+4.6%
26Luxembourg59-3.3%

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. 1 EU countries with data in other periods have no value for 2018 and are left out rather than filled from another source. 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, 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), 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, 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-water-waste/eu-countries?period=2018. 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, 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-water-waste/eu-countries?period=2018.

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

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_enterprises_2018,
  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, 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-water-waste/eu-countries?period=2018. 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, 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-water-waste/eu-countries?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprises-water-waste/eu-countries?period=2018.
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 10,864 in 2018, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

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

Luxembourg, with 59 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), Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev. 2 section E), enterprises, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12. 1 EU countries have no value for 2018 and are not ranked.

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