EU countries by persons employed in accommodation and food services, 2024

Germany had the highest persons employed in accommodation and food services of 27 EU countries in 2024, at 2.39 million. Luxembourg had the lowest, at 24,493. The median was 185,508 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 11.8 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest2,392,630Germany

Lowest24,493Luxembourg

Median185,50827 EU countries

European Union (27)11,800,766History

Map of EU countries, 2024

Under 50K
50K to 160K
160K to 230K
230K to 540K
540K and over

persons, 2024. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics, Accommodation and food services (NACE Rev. 2 section I), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2024

persons. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics, Accommodation and food services (NACE Rev. 2 section I), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2024 persons	Change on 2023
1	Germany	2,392,630	+11.7%
2	Spain	1,748,137	+5.2%
3	Italy	1,728,356	+4.4%
4	France	1,394,585	-1.1%
5	Greece	743,073	+2.4%
6	Netherlands	552,986	+1.6%
7	Portugal	468,927	+5.3%
8	Poland	330,992	+1.7%
9	Austria	323,875	0%
10	Sweden	248,584	-0.2%
11	Ireland	247,691	+1.8%
12	Romania	208,899	-1.4%
13	Belgium	190,189	-1%
14	Czechia	185,508	+2.9%
15	Hungary	172,286	+3.2%
16	Denmark	159,008	+1.6%
17	Bulgaria	154,285	+6.5%
18	Croatia	129,289	+4.1%
19	Finland	82,772	+0.5%
20	Slovakia	65,813	+1.7%
21	Cyprus	58,293	+2%
22	Lithuania	52,977	-0.8%
23	Slovenia	44,842	+1.6%
24	Latvia	35,006	+8.4%
25	Malta	29,382	+11.8%
26	Estonia	27,888	+3.9%
27	Luxembourg	24,493	+1.8%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of persons who work in enterprises of accommodation and food services (NACE Rev. 2 section I): employees plus working proprietors, partners working regularly in the enterprise and unpaid family workers. A head count, not full-time equivalents. Eurostat structural business statistics.

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, Accommodation and food services (NACE Rev. 2 section I), persons employed, 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, Accommodation and food services (NACE Rev. 2 section I), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act) (EU countries by persons employed in accommodation and food services, 2024) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_ovw_act/default/table

MLA 9

Structural business statistics, Accommodation and food services (NACE Rev. 2 section I), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act), EU countries by persons employed in accommodation and food services, 2024. Eurostat, European Commission, 30 Sept. 2026, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_ovw_act/default/table. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-accommodation-food/eu-countries. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Structural business statistics, Accommodation and food services (NACE Rev. 2 section I), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). EU countries by persons employed in accommodation and food services, 2024. 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/persons-employed-accommodation-food/eu-countries.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Structural business statistics, Accommodation and food services (NACE Rev. 2 section I), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act), EU countries by persons employed in accommodation and food services, 2024 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_ovw_act/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-accommodation-food/eu-countries (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_persons_2024,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Structural business statistics, Accommodation and food services (NACE Rev. 2 section I), persons employed, number (sbs\_ovw\_act): EU countries by persons employed in accommodation and food services, 2024}},
  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/persons-employed-accommodation-food/eu-countries. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics, Accommodation and food services (NACE Rev. 2 section I), persons employed, 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, Accommodation and food services (NACE Rev. 2 section I), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act): EU countries by persons employed in accommodation and food services, 2024
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/persons-employed-accommodation-food/eu-countries
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-accommodation-food/eu-countries.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics, Accommodation and food services (NACE Rev. 2 section I), persons employed, 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 persons employed in accommodation and food services?

Germany, with 2.39 million in 2024, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest persons employed in accommodation and food services?

Luxembourg, with 24,493 in 2024.

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, Accommodation and food services (NACE Rev. 2 section I), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Retrieved 2026-10-12.