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 2023, at 3.18 million. Cyprus had the lowest, at 20,037. The median was 189,255 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 14.09 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.
Map of EU countries, 2023
- Under 50K
- 50K to 170K
- 170K to 270K
- 270K to 600K
- 600K and over
All EU countries, 2023
Full ranking
| Rank | EU countries | 2023 | Change on 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany | 3,177,016 | -1.2% |
| 2 | France | 2,240,597 | +0.9% |
| 3 | Spain | 1,623,862 | +0.7% |
| 4 | Italy | 1,543,372 | +1% |
| 5 | Netherlands | 1,001,312 | -3.9% |
| 6 | Portugal | 608,690 | +9.1% |
| 7 | Poland | 575,228 | -0.7% |
| 8 | Belgium | 491,060 | -1% |
| 9 | Sweden | 351,069 | +4.1% |
| 10 | Romania | 344,328 | +4.9% |
| 11 | Czechia | 274,806 | +4.7% |
| 12 | Hungary | 269,894 | +4% |
| 13 | Austria | 261,439 | -2.8% |
| 14 | Ireland | 189,255 | +3.3% |
| 15 | Finland | 180,949 | -6.8% |
| 16 | Greece | 177,936 | +5% |
| 17 | Denmark | 166,737 | -1% |
| 18 | Slovakia | 134,681 | +5.7% |
| 19 | Bulgaria | 115,362 | +0.2% |
| 20 | Lithuania | 84,205 | +11.9% |
| 21 | Croatia | 68,173 | +7.3% |
| 22 | Luxembourg | 40,471 | -0.8% |
| 23 | Latvia | 39,043 | +0.2% |
| 24 | Slovenia | 39,032 | -0.5% |
| 25 | Estonia | 38,290 | -1.3% |
| 26 | Malta | 30,270 | +17% |
| 27 | Cyprus | 20,037 | +10.8% |
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
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, 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, 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, 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-administrative-support/eu-countries?period=2023. 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, 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-administrative-support/eu-countries?period=2023.
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, 2023 [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?period=2023 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_persons_2023,
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, 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-administrative-support/eu-countries?period=2023. 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, 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-administrative-support/eu-countries?period=2023
Y2 - 2026/10/12
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-administrative-support/eu-countries?period=2023.
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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Rank EU countries by persons employed in administrative and support services using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"sbs_persons_employed_administrative_support","level":"country","within":"European Union (27)","limit":10}
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Which EU country has the highest persons employed in administrative and support services?
Germany, with 3.18 million in 2023, according to Eurostat, European Commission.
Which EU country has the lowest persons employed in administrative and support services?
Cyprus, with 20,037 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, Administrative and support services (NACE Rev. 2 section N), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Retrieved 2026-10-12.
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