Data / Rankings / Persons employed in industry, construction and market services / EU countries

EU countries by persons employed in industry, construction and market services

Germany had the highest persons employed in industry, construction and market services of 27 EU countries in 2021, at 38.36 million. Malta had the lowest, at 221,618. The median was 3.23 million and the figure for the European Union (27) was 156.1 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

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Highest38,364,855Germany
Lowest221,618Malta
Median3,234,41227 EU countries
European Union (27)156,104,442History

Map of EU countries, 2021

Austria: 3,590,035 personsBelgium: 3,767,002 personsBulgaria: 2,128,319 personsCyprus: 352,199 personsCzechia: 4,160,116 personsGermany: 38,364,855 personsDenmark: 2,105,103 personsEstonia: 514,401 personsSpain: 14,998,520 personsFinland: 1,666,283 personsFrance: 19,637,779 personsGreece: 3,234,412 personsCroatia: 1,214,455 personsHungary: 3,260,757 personsIreland: 2,028,348 personsItaly: 17,607,909 personsLithuania: 1,182,875 personsLuxembourg: 380,401 personsLatvia: 690,931 personsMalta: 221,618 personsNetherlands: 8,286,876 personsPoland: 11,385,265 personsPortugal: 4,116,533 personsRomania: 4,677,574 personsSweden: 4,007,240 personsSlovenia: 753,047 personsSlovakia: 1,771,589 persons
  • Under 800K
  • 800K to 2.1M
  • 2.1M to 3.7M
  • 3.7M to 7.6M
  • 7.6M and over
persons, 2021. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics, Industry, construction and market services (NACE Rev. 2 sections B to S except O and S94), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2021

Germany: 38,364,855 personsGermany38,364,855France: 19,637,779 personsFrance19,637,779Italy: 17,607,909 personsItaly17,607,909Spain: 14,998,520 personsSpain14,998,520Poland: 11,385,265 personsPoland11,385,265Netherlands: 8,286,876 personsNetherlands8,286,876Romania: 4,677,574 personsRomania4,677,574Czechia: 4,160,116 personsCzechia4,160,116Portugal: 4,116,533 personsPortugal4,116,533Sweden: 4,007,240 personsSweden4,007,240Belgium: 3,767,002 personsBelgium3,767,002Austria: 3,590,035 personsAustria3,590,035Hungary: 3,260,757 personsHungary3,260,757Greece: 3,234,412 personsGreece3,234,412Bulgaria: 2,128,319 personsBulgaria2,128,319Denmark: 2,105,103 personsDenmark2,105,103Ireland: 2,028,348 personsIreland2,028,348Slovakia: 1,771,589 personsSlovakia1,771,589Finland: 1,666,283 personsFinland1,666,283Croatia: 1,214,455 personsCroatia1,214,455Lithuania: 1,182,875 personsLithuania1,182,875Slovenia: 753,047 personsSlovenia753,047Latvia: 690,931 personsLatvia690,931Estonia: 514,401 personsEstonia514,401Luxembourg: 380,401 personsLuxembourg380,401Cyprus: 352,199 personsCyprus352,199Malta: 221,618 personsMalta221,618Germany: 38,364,855 personsGermany38,364,855France: 19,637,779 personsFrance19,637,779Italy: 17,607,909 personsItaly17,607,909Spain: 14,998,520 personsSpain14,998,520Poland: 11,385,265 personsPoland11,385,265Netherlands: 8,286,876 personsNetherlands8,286,876Romania: 4,677,574 personsRomania4,677,574Czechia: 4,160,116 personsCzechia4,160,116Portugal: 4,116,533 personsPortugal4,116,533Sweden: 4,007,240 personsSweden4,007,240Belgium: 3,767,002 personsBelgium3,767,002Austria: 3,590,035 personsAustria3,590,035Hungary: 3,260,757 personsHungary3,260,757Greece: 3,234,412 personsGreece3,234,412Bulgaria: 2,128,319 personsBulgaria2,128,319Denmark: 2,105,103 personsDenmark2,105,103Ireland: 2,028,348 personsIreland2,028,348Slovakia: 1,771,589 personsSlovakia1,771,589Finland: 1,666,283 personsFinland1,666,283Croatia: 1,214,455 personsCroatia1,214,455Lithuania: 1,182,875 personsLithuania1,182,875Slovenia: 753,047 personsSlovenia753,047Latvia: 690,931 personsLatvia690,931Estonia: 514,401 personsEstonia514,401Luxembourg: 380,401 personsLuxembourg380,401Cyprus: 352,199 personsCyprus352,199Malta: 221,618 personsMalta221,618
persons. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics, Industry, construction and market services (NACE Rev. 2 sections B to S except O and S94), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankEU countries2021
persons
1Germany38,364,855
2France Series break19,637,779
3Italy17,607,909
4Spain14,998,520
5Poland11,385,265
6Netherlands8,286,876
7Romania Series break4,677,574
8Czechia4,160,116
9Portugal Series break4,116,533
10Sweden4,007,240
11Belgium3,767,002
12Austria3,590,035
13Hungary3,260,757
14Greece3,234,412
15Bulgaria2,128,319
16Denmark2,105,103
17Ireland2,028,348
18Slovakia1,771,589
19Finland Series break1,666,283
20Croatia1,214,455
21Lithuania1,182,875
22Slovenia753,047
23Latvia690,931
24Estonia514,401
25Luxembourg380,401
26Cyprus352,199
27Malta221,618

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of persons who work in enterprises of industry, construction and market services (NACE Rev.

More on how it is measured
  • 2 sections B to S except O and S94): 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 (sbs_ovw_act), from 2021. Covers NACE Rev. 2 sections B to S except public administration (O) and membership organisations (S94), so it includes financial and insurance activities, education, health and arts as well as the 12 sections with their own series; it is not their sum. There is no earlier comparable total: the 2005 to 2020 table excluded financial and insurance activities, education, health, arts and most other services in section S. Amounts are published in euros for every country. 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, Industry, construction and market services (NACE Rev. 2 sections B to S except O and S94), 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, Industry, construction and market services (NACE Rev. 2 sections B to S except O and S94), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act) (EU countries by persons employed in industry, construction and market services, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_ovw_act/default/table

MLA 9

Structural business statistics, Industry, construction and market services (NACE Rev. 2 sections B to S except O and S94), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act), EU countries by persons employed in industry, construction and market services, 2021. 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-business-economy/eu-countries?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Structural business statistics, Industry, construction and market services (NACE Rev. 2 sections B to S except O and S94), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). EU countries by persons employed in industry, construction and market services, 2021. 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-business-economy/eu-countries?period=2021.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Structural business statistics, Industry, construction and market services (NACE Rev. 2 sections B to S except O and S94), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act), EU countries by persons employed in industry, construction and market services, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_ovw_act/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-business-economy/eu-countries?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_persons_2021,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Structural business statistics, Industry, construction and market services (NACE Rev. 2 sections B to S except O and S94), persons employed, number (sbs\_ovw\_act): EU countries by persons employed in industry, construction and market services, 2021}},
  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-business-economy/eu-countries?period=2021. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics, Industry, construction and market services (NACE Rev. 2 sections B to S except O and S94), 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, Industry, construction and market services (NACE Rev. 2 sections B to S except O and S94), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act): EU countries by persons employed in industry, construction and market services, 2021
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-business-economy/eu-countries?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-business-economy/eu-countries?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics, Industry, construction and market services (NACE Rev. 2 sections B to S except O and S94), 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 industry, construction and market services?

Germany, with 38.36 million in 2021, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest persons employed in industry, construction and market services?

Malta, with 221,618 in 2021.

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, Industry, construction and market services (NACE Rev. 2 sections B to S except O and S94), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

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