EU countries by persons employed in accommodation and food services

Germany had the highest persons employed in accommodation and food services of 27 EU countries in 2019, at 2.53 million. Malta had the lowest, at 21,344. The median was 171,243 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 10.98 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest2,527,688Germany

Lowest21,344Malta

Median171,24327 EU countries

European Union (27)10,978,430History

Map of EU countries, 2019

Under 50K
50K to 140K
140K to 210K
210K to 480K
480K and over

persons, 2019. 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, 2019

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	2019 persons	Change on 2018
1	Germany	2,527,688	+0.2%
2	Spain	1,601,724	+4.7%
3	Italy	1,582,310	+1.8%
4	France	1,127,826	+4.8%
5	Greece	652,048	+8.6%
6	Netherlands	502,609	+3.3%
7	Portugal	399,241	+6.4%
8	Austria	320,115	+1.2%
9	Poland	303,647	+3.6%
10	Sweden	223,152	+3.4%
11	Ireland	222,716	+14.3%
12	Romania	196,009	+3.2%
13	Czechia	184,189	+1.8%
14	Belgium	171,243	-8.6%
15	Hungary	153,354	+4.2%
16	Bulgaria	152,458	+1.7%
17	Denmark	136,565	-1.3%
18	Croatia Series break	117,053	+12%
19	Finland	83,648	+7.1%
20	Slovakia	67,817	-0.1%
21	Cyprus	52,408	+4.6%
22	Lithuania	49,853	+6.7%
23	Slovenia	42,101	+3.8%
24	Latvia	38,369	-1.1%
25	Estonia	26,490	+6%
26	Luxembourg	22,769	+5.4%
27	Malta	21,344	+5.3%

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 (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, 2019) [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, 2019. 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=2019. 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, 2019. 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=2019.

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, 2019 [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=2019 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_persons_2019,
  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, 2019}},
  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=2019. 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, 2019
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=2019
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-accommodation-food/eu-countries?period=2019.
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 2.53 million in 2019, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

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

Malta, with 21,344 in 2019.

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.