EU countries by persons employed in accommodation and food services

Germany had the highest persons employed in accommodation and food services of 26 EU countries in 2016, at 2.3 million. Luxembourg had the lowest, at 20,268. The median was 173,008 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 9.7 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest2,300,813Germany

Lowest20,268Luxembourg

Median173,00826 EU countries

European Union (27)9,700,000History

Map of EU countries, 2016

Under 40K
40K to 140K
140K to 180K
180K to 450K
450K and over
No data

persons, 2016. Hatched areas have no value for this period. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Accommodation and food services (NACE Rev. 2 section I), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2016

persons. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Accommodation and food services (NACE Rev. 2 section I), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2016 persons	Change on 2015
1	Germany	2,300,813	+5.9%
2	Spain	1,401,056	+10.5%
3	Italy	1,379,644	+4.3%
4	France Series break	1,057,696	+22.4%
5	Greece	488,624	+14.8%
6	Netherlands	447,559	+3.8%
7	Portugal	317,808	+8.3%
8	Austria	302,905	+1.9%
9	Poland	259,677	+5%
10	Sweden	207,463	+5.1%
11	Ireland	179,827	+5.6%
12	Romania	176,177	+6.5%
13	Belgium	175,436	-2%
14	Czechia	170,580	+3.2%
15	Bulgaria	142,785	+4.2%
16	Hungary	138,371	+3.7%
17	Denmark Series break	127,731	+65.4%
18	Croatia	100,269	+3.8%
19	Finland	72,780	+3.3%
20	Slovakia	60,624	-0%
21	Lithuania	44,697	+5.4%
22	Cyprus	42,980	+9.3%
23	Slovenia	36,790	+3.4%
24	Latvia	35,635	+2.3%
25	Estonia	24,806	+3.8%
26	Luxembourg	20,268	+3.6%

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. 1 EU countries with data in other periods have no value for 2016 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), Accommodation and food services (NACE Rev. 2 section I), persons employed, 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), Accommodation and food services (NACE Rev. 2 section I), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2) (EU countries by persons employed in accommodation and food services, 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), Accommodation and food services (NACE Rev. 2 section I), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by persons employed in accommodation and food services, 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/persons-employed-accommodation-food/eu-countries?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2024. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Accommodation and food services (NACE Rev. 2 section I), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). EU countries by persons employed in accommodation and food services, 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/persons-employed-accommodation-food/eu-countries?period=2016.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2024) Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Accommodation and food services (NACE Rev. 2 section I), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by persons employed in accommodation and food services, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_na_sca_r2/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-accommodation-food/eu-countries?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_persons_2016,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Accommodation and food services (NACE Rev. 2 section I), persons employed, number (sbs\_na\_sca\_r2): EU countries by persons employed in accommodation and food services, 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/persons-employed-accommodation-food/eu-countries?period=2016. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Accommodation and food services (NACE Rev. 2 section I), persons employed, 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), Accommodation and food services (NACE Rev. 2 section I), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2): EU countries by persons employed in accommodation and food services, 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/persons-employed-accommodation-food/eu-countries?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-accommodation-food/eu-countries?period=2016.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Accommodation and food services (NACE Rev. 2 section I), persons employed, 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 persons employed in accommodation and food services?

Germany, with 2.3 million in 2016, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

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

Luxembourg, with 20,268 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), Accommodation and food services (NACE Rev. 2 section I), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12. 1 EU countries have no value for 2016 and are not ranked.