Data / Rankings / Persons employed in accommodation and food services / EU countries

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 2020, at 1.86 million. Malta had the lowest, at 19,748. The median was 157,946 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 9.35 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

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Highest1,858,245Germany
Lowest19,748Malta
Median157,94627 EU countries
European Union (27)9,353,797History

Map of EU countries, 2020

Austria: 273,150 personsBelgium: 161,771 personsBulgaria: 118,920 personsCyprus: 42,943 personsCzechia: 169,563 personsGermany: 1,858,245 personsDenmark: 116,248 personsEstonia: 22,368 personsSpain: 1,387,964 personsFinland: 78,359 personsFrance: 1,091,755 personsGreece: 535,005 personsCroatia: 99,589 personsHungary: 134,705 personsIreland: 157,946 personsItaly: 1,403,667 personsLithuania: 46,223 personsLuxembourg: 21,681 personsLatvia: 33,837 personsMalta: 19,748 personsNetherlands: 459,146 personsPoland: 299,095 personsPortugal: 365,895 personsRomania: 172,721 personsSweden: 182,999 personsSlovenia: 39,759 personsSlovakia: 60,337 persons
  • Under 40K
  • 40K to 120K
  • 120K to 170K
  • 170K to 440K
  • 440K and over
persons, 2020. 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, 2020

Germany: 1,858,245 personsGermany1,858,245Italy: 1,403,667 personsItaly1,403,667Spain: 1,387,964 personsSpain1,387,964France: 1,091,755 personsFrance1,091,755Greece: 535,005 personsGreece535,005Netherlands: 459,146 personsNetherlands459,146Portugal: 365,895 personsPortugal365,895Poland: 299,095 personsPoland299,095Austria: 273,150 personsAustria273,150Sweden: 182,999 personsSweden182,999Romania: 172,721 personsRomania172,721Czechia: 169,563 personsCzechia169,563Belgium: 161,771 personsBelgium161,771Ireland: 157,946 personsIreland157,946Hungary: 134,705 personsHungary134,705Bulgaria: 118,920 personsBulgaria118,920Denmark: 116,248 personsDenmark116,248Croatia: 99,589 personsCroatia99,589Finland: 78,359 personsFinland78,359Slovakia: 60,337 personsSlovakia60,337Lithuania: 46,223 personsLithuania46,223Cyprus: 42,943 personsCyprus42,943Slovenia: 39,759 personsSlovenia39,759Latvia: 33,837 personsLatvia33,837Estonia: 22,368 personsEstonia22,368Luxembourg: 21,681 personsLuxembourg21,681Malta: 19,748 personsMalta19,748Germany: 1,858,245 personsGermany1,858,245Italy: 1,403,667 personsItaly1,403,667Spain: 1,387,964 personsSpain1,387,964France: 1,091,755 personsFrance1,091,755Greece: 535,005 personsGreece535,005Netherlands: 459,146 personsNetherlands459,146Portugal: 365,895 personsPortugal365,895Poland: 299,095 personsPoland299,095Austria: 273,150 personsAustria273,150Sweden: 182,999 personsSweden182,999Romania: 172,721 personsRomania172,721Czechia: 169,563 personsCzechia169,563Belgium: 161,771 personsBelgium161,771Ireland: 157,946 personsIreland157,946Hungary: 134,705 personsHungary134,705Bulgaria: 118,920 personsBulgaria118,920Denmark: 116,248 personsDenmark116,248Croatia: 99,589 personsCroatia99,589Finland: 78,359 personsFinland78,359Slovakia: 60,337 personsSlovakia60,337Lithuania: 46,223 personsLithuania46,223Cyprus: 42,943 personsCyprus42,943Slovenia: 39,759 personsSlovenia39,759Latvia: 33,837 personsLatvia33,837Estonia: 22,368 personsEstonia22,368Luxembourg: 21,681 personsLuxembourg21,681Malta: 19,748 personsMalta19,748
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

RankEU countries2020
persons		Change on 2019
1Germany1,858,245-26.5%
2Italy1,403,667-11.3%
3Spain1,387,964-13.3%
4France1,091,755-3.2%
5Greece535,005-18%
6Netherlands459,146-8.6%
7Portugal365,895-8.4%
8Poland299,095-1.5%
9Austria273,150-14.7%
10Sweden182,999-18%
11Romania172,721-11.9%
12Czechia169,563-7.9%
13Belgium161,771-5.5%
14Ireland157,946-29.1%
15Hungary134,705-12.2%
16Bulgaria118,920-22%
17Denmark116,248-14.9%
18Croatia99,589-14.9%
19Finland78,359-6.3%
20Slovakia60,337-11%
21Lithuania46,223-7.3%
22Cyprus42,943-18.1%
23Slovenia39,759-5.6%
24Latvia33,837-11.8%
25Estonia22,368-15.6%
26Luxembourg21,681-4.8%
27Malta19,748-7.5%

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, 2020) [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, 2020. 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=2020. 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, 2020. 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=2020.

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, 2020 [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=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_persons_2020,
  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, 2020}},
  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=2020. 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, 2020
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=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-accommodation-food/eu-countries?period=2020.
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 1.86 million in 2020, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

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

Malta, with 19,748 in 2020.

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.

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