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 2021, at 2.01 million. Malta had the lowest, at 20,680. The median was 160,566 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 9.9 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

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Highest2,007,110Germany
Lowest20,680Malta
Median160,56627 EU countries
European Union (27)9,896,665History

Map of EU countries, 2021

Austria: 274,508 personsBelgium: 160,566 personsBulgaria: 124,600 personsCyprus: 47,078 personsCzechia: 167,036 personsGermany: 2,007,110 personsDenmark: 127,739 personsEstonia: 22,432 personsSpain: 1,419,533 personsFinland: 64,907 personsFrance: 1,259,011 personsGreece: 633,882 personsCroatia: 107,023 personsHungary: 142,543 personsIreland: 166,424 personsItaly: 1,441,551 personsLithuania: 47,379 personsLuxembourg: 21,674 personsLatvia: 30,180 personsMalta: 20,680 personsNetherlands: 447,162 personsPoland: 318,438 personsPortugal: 358,992 personsRomania: 186,058 personsSweden: 201,387 personsSlovenia: 39,884 personsSlovakia: 58,888 persons
  • Under 50K
  • 50K to 130K
  • 130K to 180K
  • 180K to 430K
  • 430K and over
persons, 2021. 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, 2021

Germany: 2,007,110 personsGermany2,007,110Italy: 1,441,551 personsItaly1,441,551Spain: 1,419,533 personsSpain1,419,533France: 1,259,011 personsFrance1,259,011Greece: 633,882 personsGreece633,882Netherlands: 447,162 personsNetherlands447,162Portugal: 358,992 personsPortugal358,992Poland: 318,438 personsPoland318,438Austria: 274,508 personsAustria274,508Sweden: 201,387 personsSweden201,387Romania: 186,058 personsRomania186,058Czechia: 167,036 personsCzechia167,036Ireland: 166,424 personsIreland166,424Belgium: 160,566 personsBelgium160,566Hungary: 142,543 personsHungary142,543Denmark: 127,739 personsDenmark127,739Bulgaria: 124,600 personsBulgaria124,600Croatia: 107,023 personsCroatia107,023Finland: 64,907 personsFinland64,907Slovakia: 58,888 personsSlovakia58,888Lithuania: 47,379 personsLithuania47,379Cyprus: 47,078 personsCyprus47,078Slovenia: 39,884 personsSlovenia39,884Latvia: 30,180 personsLatvia30,180Estonia: 22,432 personsEstonia22,432Luxembourg: 21,674 personsLuxembourg21,674Malta: 20,680 personsMalta20,680Germany: 2,007,110 personsGermany2,007,110Italy: 1,441,551 personsItaly1,441,551Spain: 1,419,533 personsSpain1,419,533France: 1,259,011 personsFrance1,259,011Greece: 633,882 personsGreece633,882Netherlands: 447,162 personsNetherlands447,162Portugal: 358,992 personsPortugal358,992Poland: 318,438 personsPoland318,438Austria: 274,508 personsAustria274,508Sweden: 201,387 personsSweden201,387Romania: 186,058 personsRomania186,058Czechia: 167,036 personsCzechia167,036Ireland: 166,424 personsIreland166,424Belgium: 160,566 personsBelgium160,566Hungary: 142,543 personsHungary142,543Denmark: 127,739 personsDenmark127,739Bulgaria: 124,600 personsBulgaria124,600Croatia: 107,023 personsCroatia107,023Finland: 64,907 personsFinland64,907Slovakia: 58,888 personsSlovakia58,888Lithuania: 47,379 personsLithuania47,379Cyprus: 47,078 personsCyprus47,078Slovenia: 39,884 personsSlovenia39,884Latvia: 30,180 personsLatvia30,180Estonia: 22,432 personsEstonia22,432Luxembourg: 21,674 personsLuxembourg21,674Malta: 20,680 personsMalta20,680
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

RankEU countries2021
persons		Change on 2020
1Germany Series break2,007,110+8%
2Italy Series break1,441,551+2.7%
3Spain Series break1,419,533+2.3%
4France Series break1,259,011+15.3%
5Greece Series break633,882+18.5%
6Netherlands Series break447,162-2.6%
7Portugal Series break358,992-1.9%
8Poland Series break318,438+6.5%
9Austria Series break274,508+0.5%
10Sweden Series break201,387+10%
11Romania Series break186,058+7.7%
12Czechia Series break167,036-1.5%
13Ireland Series break166,424+5.4%
14Belgium Series break160,566-0.7%
15Hungary Series break142,543+5.8%
16Denmark Series break127,739+9.9%
17Bulgaria Series break124,600+4.8%
18Croatia Series break107,023+7.5%
19Finland Series break64,907-17.2%
20Slovakia Series break58,888-2.4%
21Lithuania Series break47,379+2.5%
22Cyprus Series break47,078+9.6%
23Slovenia Series break39,884+0.3%
24Latvia Series break30,180-10.8%
25Estonia Series break22,432+0.3%
26Luxembourg Series break21,674-0%
27Malta Series break20,680+4.7%

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, 2021) [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, 2021. 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?period=2021. 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, 2021. 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?period=2021.

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, 2021 [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?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_persons_2021,
  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, 2021}},
  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?period=2021. 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, 2021
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?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-accommodation-food/eu-countries?period=2021.
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 2.01 million in 2021, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

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

Malta, with 20,680 in 2021.

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.

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