EU countries by persons employed in administrative and support services

Germany had the highest persons employed in administrative and support services of 27 EU countries in 2016, at 3.49 million. Cyprus had the lowest, at 11,151. The median was 156,204 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 13.01 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest3,487,818Germany

Lowest11,151Cyprus

Median156,20427 EU countries

European Union (27)13,011,280History

Map of EU countries, 2016

Under 40K
40K to 130K
130K to 240K
240K to 520K
520K and over

persons, 2016. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2016

persons. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2016 persons	Change on 2015
1	Germany	3,487,818	+6%
2	France Series break	2,079,913	+15.9%
3	Spain	1,397,438	+5.1%
4	Italy	1,217,437	+4.5%
5	Netherlands	1,023,697	+6.2%
6	Poland	539,999	+7.9%
7	Portugal	447,481	+5.4%
8	Belgium	412,456	+4.3%
9	Sweden	335,064	+5.4%
10	Romania	300,124	+2.6%
11	Czechia	244,827	+5.7%
12	Austria	232,505	+4.6%
13	Hungary	232,096	+2.2%
14	Finland	156,204	+4.7%
15	Denmark Series break	144,596	+23.7%
16	Ireland	132,644	+7%
17	Greece	121,521	+11%
18	Bulgaria	115,199	+5.4%
19	Slovakia	105,717	+6.5%
20	Lithuania	57,700	+5%
21	Croatia	50,900	+3.7%
22	Latvia	40,711	+5.5%
23	Slovenia	37,866	+7.3%
24	Estonia	35,328	+3.7%
25	Luxembourg	33,854	+7.8%
26	Malta	17,396	+12.1%
27	Cyprus	11,151	+8.7%

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 (2005 to 2020), Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), 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), Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2) (EU countries by persons employed in administrative and support services, 2016) [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), Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by persons employed in administrative and support services, 2016. 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-administrative-support/eu-countries?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2024. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). EU countries by persons employed in administrative and support services, 2016. 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-administrative-support/eu-countries?period=2016.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2024) Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by persons employed in administrative and support services, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_na_sca_r2/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-administrative-support/eu-countries?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_persons_2016,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), persons employed, number (sbs\_na\_sca\_r2): EU countries by persons employed in administrative and support services, 2016}},
  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-administrative-support/eu-countries?period=2016. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), 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), Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2): EU countries by persons employed in administrative and support services, 2016
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-administrative-support/eu-countries?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-administrative-support/eu-countries?period=2016.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), 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 administrative and support services?

Germany, with 3.49 million in 2016, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

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

Cyprus, with 11,151 in 2016.

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), Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.