EU countries by persons employed in administrative and support services, 2024

Germany had the highest persons employed in administrative and support services of 27 EU countries in 2024, at 3.36 million. Cyprus had the lowest, at 21,410. The median was 197,046 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 14.42 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest3,362,904Germany

Lowest21,410Cyprus

Median197,04627 EU countries

European Union (27)14,420,153History

All EU countries, 2024

persons. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics, Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2024 persons	Change on 2023
1	Germany	3,362,904	+5.9%
2	France	2,256,140	+0.7%
3	Spain	1,651,380	+1.7%
4	Italy	1,578,417	+2.3%
5	Netherlands	1,023,261	+2.2%
6	Portugal	644,897	+5.9%
7	Poland	571,295	-0.7%
8	Belgium	496,514	+1.1%
9	Romania	352,312	+2.3%
10	Sweden	336,358	-4.2%
11	Hungary	271,593	+0.6%
12	Czechia	268,241	-2.4%
13	Austria	252,952	-3.2%
14	Greece	197,046	+10.7%
15	Ireland	190,736	+0.8%
16	Finland	169,718	-6.2%
17	Denmark	166,453	-0.2%
18	Slovakia	142,604	+5.9%
19	Bulgaria	116,696	+1.2%
20	Lithuania	86,243	+2.4%
21	Croatia	72,688	+6.6%
22	Latvia	42,016	+7.6%
23	Luxembourg	40,884	+1%
24	Estonia	38,325	+0.1%
25	Slovenia	37,743	-3.3%
26	Malta	31,327	+3.5%
27	Cyprus	21,410	+6.9%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of persons who work in enterprises of administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N): 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, Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), 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, Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act) (EU countries by persons employed in administrative and support services, 2024) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_ovw_act/default/table

MLA 9

Structural business statistics, Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act), EU countries by persons employed in administrative and support services, 2024. 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-administrative-support/eu-countries. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Structural business statistics, Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). EU countries by persons employed in administrative and support services, 2024. 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-administrative-support/eu-countries.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Structural business statistics, Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act), EU countries by persons employed in administrative and support services, 2024 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_ovw_act/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-administrative-support/eu-countries (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_persons_2024,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Structural business statistics, Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), persons employed, number (sbs\_ovw\_act): EU countries by persons employed in administrative and support services, 2024}},
  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-administrative-support/eu-countries. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics, Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), 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, Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act): EU countries by persons employed in administrative and support services, 2024
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-administrative-support/eu-countries
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-administrative-support/eu-countries.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics, Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), 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 administrative and support services?

Germany, with 3.36 million in 2024, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest persons employed in administrative and support services?

Cyprus, with 21,410 in 2024.

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, Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Retrieved 2026-10-12.