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 2023, at 2.14 million. Luxembourg had the lowest, at 24,061. The median was 180,314 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 11.32 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

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Highest2,142,300Germany
Lowest24,061Luxembourg
Median180,31427 EU countries
European Union (27)11,315,036History

Map of EU countries, 2023

Austria: 323,827 personsBelgium: 192,030 personsBulgaria: 144,859 personsCyprus: 57,178 personsCzechia: 180,314 personsGermany: 2,142,300 personsDenmark: 156,464 personsEstonia: 26,849 personsSpain: 1,662,157 personsFinland: 82,375 personsFrance: 1,410,387 personsGreece: 725,725 personsCroatia: 124,145 personsHungary: 166,948 personsIreland: 243,192 personsItaly: 1,655,501 personsLithuania: 53,426 personsLuxembourg: 24,061 personsLatvia: 32,304 personsMalta: 26,271 personsNetherlands: 544,240 personsPoland: 325,584 personsPortugal: 445,163 personsRomania: 211,870 personsSweden: 249,007 personsSlovenia: 44,148 personsSlovakia: 64,711 persons
  • Under 50K
  • 50K to 150K
  • 150K to 230K
  • 230K to 520K
  • 520K and over
persons, 2023. 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, 2023

Germany: 2,142,300 personsGermany2,142,300Spain: 1,662,157 personsSpain1,662,157Italy: 1,655,501 personsItaly1,655,501France: 1,410,387 personsFrance1,410,387Greece: 725,725 personsGreece725,725Netherlands: 544,240 personsNetherlands544,240Portugal: 445,163 personsPortugal445,163Poland: 325,584 personsPoland325,584Austria: 323,827 personsAustria323,827Sweden: 249,007 personsSweden249,007Ireland: 243,192 personsIreland243,192Romania: 211,870 personsRomania211,870Belgium: 192,030 personsBelgium192,030Czechia: 180,314 personsCzechia180,314Hungary: 166,948 personsHungary166,948Denmark: 156,464 personsDenmark156,464Bulgaria: 144,859 personsBulgaria144,859Croatia: 124,145 personsCroatia124,145Finland: 82,375 personsFinland82,375Slovakia: 64,711 personsSlovakia64,711Cyprus: 57,178 personsCyprus57,178Lithuania: 53,426 personsLithuania53,426Slovenia: 44,148 personsSlovenia44,148Latvia: 32,304 personsLatvia32,304Estonia: 26,849 personsEstonia26,849Malta: 26,271 personsMalta26,271Luxembourg: 24,061 personsLuxembourg24,061Germany: 2,142,300 personsGermany2,142,300Spain: 1,662,157 personsSpain1,662,157Italy: 1,655,501 personsItaly1,655,501France: 1,410,387 personsFrance1,410,387Greece: 725,725 personsGreece725,725Netherlands: 544,240 personsNetherlands544,240Portugal: 445,163 personsPortugal445,163Poland: 325,584 personsPoland325,584Austria: 323,827 personsAustria323,827Sweden: 249,007 personsSweden249,007Ireland: 243,192 personsIreland243,192Romania: 211,870 personsRomania211,870Belgium: 192,030 personsBelgium192,030Czechia: 180,314 personsCzechia180,314Hungary: 166,948 personsHungary166,948Denmark: 156,464 personsDenmark156,464Bulgaria: 144,859 personsBulgaria144,859Croatia: 124,145 personsCroatia124,145Finland: 82,375 personsFinland82,375Slovakia: 64,711 personsSlovakia64,711Cyprus: 57,178 personsCyprus57,178Lithuania: 53,426 personsLithuania53,426Slovenia: 44,148 personsSlovenia44,148Latvia: 32,304 personsLatvia32,304Estonia: 26,849 personsEstonia26,849Malta: 26,271 personsMalta26,271Luxembourg: 24,061 personsLuxembourg24,061
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 countries2023
persons		Change on 2022
1Germany2,142,300+1.7%
2Spain1,662,157+2.9%
3Italy1,655,501+6.2%
4France1,410,387+2.3%
5Greece725,725+3.1%
6Netherlands544,240+5.5%
7Portugal445,163+9.3%
8Poland325,584-0.7%
9Austria323,827+3.1%
10Sweden249,007+2.5%
11Ireland243,192+4.7%
12Romania211,870+7.4%
13Belgium192,030+8.1%
14Czechia180,314-1.8%
15Hungary166,948+6.6%
16Denmark156,464+1.9%
17Bulgaria144,859+7.1%
18Croatia124,145+7.3%
19Finland82,375+6%
20Slovakia64,711+2.4%
21Cyprus57,178+7.5%
22Lithuania53,426+4.7%
23Slovenia44,148+2.9%
24Latvia32,304+1.8%
25Estonia26,849+6.1%
26Malta26,271+14.1%
27Luxembourg24,061+4.9%

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, 2023) [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, 2023. 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=2023. 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, 2023. 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=2023.

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, 2023 [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=2023 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_persons_2023,
  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, 2023}},
  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=2023. 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, 2023
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=2023
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-accommodation-food/eu-countries?period=2023.
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 2.14 million in 2023, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

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

Luxembourg, with 24,061 in 2023.

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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