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 2022, at 2.11 million. Luxembourg had the lowest, at 22,931. The median was 177,588 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 10.91 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

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Highest2,105,691Germany
Lowest22,931Luxembourg
Median177,58827 EU countries
European Union (27)10,913,356History

Map of EU countries, 2022

Austria: 314,001 personsBelgium: 177,588 personsBulgaria: 135,310 personsCyprus: 53,195 personsCzechia: 183,543 personsGermany: 2,105,691 personsDenmark: 153,473 personsEstonia: 25,305 personsSpain: 1,614,919 personsFinland: 77,705 personsFrance: 1,378,118 personsGreece: 703,901 personsCroatia: 115,744 personsHungary: 156,570 personsIreland: 232,382 personsItaly: 1,559,575 personsLithuania: 51,010 personsLuxembourg: 22,931 personsLatvia: 31,744 personsMalta: 23,033 personsNetherlands: 515,894 personsPoland: 328,034 personsPortugal: 407,258 personsRomania: 197,363 personsSweden: 242,980 personsSlovenia: 42,886 personsSlovakia: 63,203 persons
  • Under 50K
  • 50K to 140K
  • 140K to 220K
  • 220K to 490K
  • 490K and over
persons, 2022. 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, 2022

Germany: 2,105,691 personsGermany2,105,691Spain: 1,614,919 personsSpain1,614,919Italy: 1,559,575 personsItaly1,559,575France: 1,378,118 personsFrance1,378,118Greece: 703,901 personsGreece703,901Netherlands: 515,894 personsNetherlands515,894Portugal: 407,258 personsPortugal407,258Poland: 328,034 personsPoland328,034Austria: 314,001 personsAustria314,001Sweden: 242,980 personsSweden242,980Ireland: 232,382 personsIreland232,382Romania: 197,363 personsRomania197,363Czechia: 183,543 personsCzechia183,543Belgium: 177,588 personsBelgium177,588Hungary: 156,570 personsHungary156,570Denmark: 153,473 personsDenmark153,473Bulgaria: 135,310 personsBulgaria135,310Croatia: 115,744 personsCroatia115,744Finland: 77,705 personsFinland77,705Slovakia: 63,203 personsSlovakia63,203Cyprus: 53,195 personsCyprus53,195Lithuania: 51,010 personsLithuania51,010Slovenia: 42,886 personsSlovenia42,886Latvia: 31,744 personsLatvia31,744Estonia: 25,305 personsEstonia25,305Malta: 23,033 personsMalta23,033Luxembourg: 22,931 personsLuxembourg22,931Germany: 2,105,691 personsGermany2,105,691Spain: 1,614,919 personsSpain1,614,919Italy: 1,559,575 personsItaly1,559,575France: 1,378,118 personsFrance1,378,118Greece: 703,901 personsGreece703,901Netherlands: 515,894 personsNetherlands515,894Portugal: 407,258 personsPortugal407,258Poland: 328,034 personsPoland328,034Austria: 314,001 personsAustria314,001Sweden: 242,980 personsSweden242,980Ireland: 232,382 personsIreland232,382Romania: 197,363 personsRomania197,363Czechia: 183,543 personsCzechia183,543Belgium: 177,588 personsBelgium177,588Hungary: 156,570 personsHungary156,570Denmark: 153,473 personsDenmark153,473Bulgaria: 135,310 personsBulgaria135,310Croatia: 115,744 personsCroatia115,744Finland: 77,705 personsFinland77,705Slovakia: 63,203 personsSlovakia63,203Cyprus: 53,195 personsCyprus53,195Lithuania: 51,010 personsLithuania51,010Slovenia: 42,886 personsSlovenia42,886Latvia: 31,744 personsLatvia31,744Estonia: 25,305 personsEstonia25,305Malta: 23,033 personsMalta23,033Luxembourg: 22,931 personsLuxembourg22,931
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 countries2022
persons		Change on 2021
1Germany2,105,691+4.9%
2Spain1,614,919+13.8%
3Italy1,559,575+8.2%
4France1,378,118+9.5%
5Greece703,901+11%
6Netherlands515,894+15.4%
7Portugal407,258+13.4%
8Poland328,034+3%
9Austria314,001+14.4%
10Sweden242,980+20.7%
11Ireland232,382+39.6%
12Romania197,363+6.1%
13Czechia183,543+9.9%
14Belgium177,588+10.6%
15Hungary156,570+9.8%
16Denmark153,473+20.1%
17Bulgaria135,310+8.6%
18Croatia115,744+8.1%
19Finland77,705+19.7%
20Slovakia63,203+7.3%
21Cyprus53,195+13%
22Lithuania51,010+7.7%
23Slovenia42,886+7.5%
24Latvia31,744+5.2%
25Estonia25,305+12.8%
26Malta23,033+11.4%
27Luxembourg22,931+5.8%

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, 2022) [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, 2022. 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=2022. 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, 2022. 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=2022.

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, 2022 [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=2022 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_persons_2022,
  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, 2022}},
  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=2022. 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, 2022
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=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-accommodation-food/eu-countries?period=2022.
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 2.11 million in 2022, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

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

Luxembourg, with 22,931 in 2022.

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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