Data / Rankings / Persons employed in administrative and support services / EU countries

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 2017, at 3.63 million. Cyprus had the lowest, at 12,094. The median was 163,478 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 13.59 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

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Highest3,631,782Germany
Lowest12,094Cyprus
Median163,47827 EU countries
European Union (27)13,593,451History

Map of EU countries, 2017

Austria: 248,218 personsBelgium: 431,631 personsBulgaria: 116,635 personsCyprus: 12,094 personsCzechia: 251,465 personsGermany: 3,631,782 personsDenmark: 150,012 personsEstonia: 33,803 personsSpain: 1,456,664 personsFinland: 163,478 personsFrance: 2,095,390 personsGreece: 129,296 personsCroatia: 56,832 personsHungary: 239,048 personsIreland: 140,181 personsItaly: 1,298,437 personsLithuania: 61,213 personsLuxembourg: 35,794 personsLatvia: 41,831 personsMalta: 19,923 personsNetherlands: 1,102,581 personsPoland: 577,927 personsPortugal: 489,403 personsRomania: 305,286 personsSweden: 350,786 personsSlovenia: 41,466 personsSlovakia: 112,759 persons
  • Under 40K
  • 40K to 130K
  • 130K to 250K
  • 250K to 560K
  • 560K and over
persons, 2017. 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, 2017

Germany: 3,631,782 personsGermany3,631,782France: 2,095,390 personsFrance2,095,390Spain: 1,456,664 personsSpain1,456,664Italy: 1,298,437 personsItaly1,298,437Netherlands: 1,102,581 personsNetherlands1,102,581Poland: 577,927 personsPoland577,927Portugal: 489,403 personsPortugal489,403Belgium: 431,631 personsBelgium431,631Sweden: 350,786 personsSweden350,786Romania: 305,286 personsRomania305,286Czechia: 251,465 personsCzechia251,465Austria: 248,218 personsAustria248,218Hungary: 239,048 personsHungary239,048Finland: 163,478 personsFinland163,478Denmark: 150,012 personsDenmark150,012Ireland: 140,181 personsIreland140,181Greece: 129,296 personsGreece129,296Bulgaria: 116,635 personsBulgaria116,635Slovakia: 112,759 personsSlovakia112,759Lithuania: 61,213 personsLithuania61,213Croatia: 56,832 personsCroatia56,832Latvia: 41,831 personsLatvia41,831Slovenia: 41,466 personsSlovenia41,466Luxembourg: 35,794 personsLuxembourg35,794Estonia: 33,803 personsEstonia33,803Malta: 19,923 personsMalta19,923Cyprus: 12,094 personsCyprus12,094Germany: 3,631,782 personsGermany3,631,782France: 2,095,390 personsFrance2,095,390Spain: 1,456,664 personsSpain1,456,664Italy: 1,298,437 personsItaly1,298,437Netherlands: 1,102,581 personsNetherlands1,102,581Poland: 577,927 personsPoland577,927Portugal: 489,403 personsPortugal489,403Belgium: 431,631 personsBelgium431,631Sweden: 350,786 personsSweden350,786Romania: 305,286 personsRomania305,286Czechia: 251,465 personsCzechia251,465Austria: 248,218 personsAustria248,218Hungary: 239,048 personsHungary239,048Finland: 163,478 personsFinland163,478Denmark: 150,012 personsDenmark150,012Ireland: 140,181 personsIreland140,181Greece: 129,296 personsGreece129,296Bulgaria: 116,635 personsBulgaria116,635Slovakia: 112,759 personsSlovakia112,759Lithuania: 61,213 personsLithuania61,213Croatia: 56,832 personsCroatia56,832Latvia: 41,831 personsLatvia41,831Slovenia: 41,466 personsSlovenia41,466Luxembourg: 35,794 personsLuxembourg35,794Estonia: 33,803 personsEstonia33,803Malta: 19,923 personsMalta19,923Cyprus: 12,094 personsCyprus12,094
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

RankEU countries2017
persons		Change on 2016
1Germany3,631,782+4.1%
2France Series break2,095,390+0.7%
3Spain1,456,664+4.2%
4Italy Series break1,298,437+6.7%
5Netherlands1,102,581+7.7%
6Poland577,927+7%
7Portugal489,403+9.4%
8Belgium431,631+4.6%
9Sweden350,786+4.7%
10Romania305,286+1.7%
11Czechia251,465+2.7%
12Austria248,218+6.8%
13Hungary239,048+3%
14Finland Series break163,478+4.7%
15Denmark150,012+3.7%
16Ireland140,181+5.7%
17Greece129,296+6.4%
18Bulgaria116,635+1.2%
19Slovakia112,759+6.7%
20Lithuania61,213+6.1%
21Croatia56,832+11.7%
22Latvia41,831+2.8%
23Slovenia41,466+9.5%
24Luxembourg35,794+5.7%
25Estonia33,803-4.3%
26Malta19,923+14.5%
27Cyprus12,094+8.5%

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, 2017) [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, 2017. 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=2017. 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, 2017. 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=2017.

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, 2017 [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=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_persons_2017,
  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, 2017}},
  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=2017. 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, 2017
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=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-administrative-support/eu-countries?period=2017.
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 3.63 million in 2017, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

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

Cyprus, with 12,094 in 2017.

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.

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