EU countries by persons employed in construction, 2024

Germany had the highest persons employed in construction of 27 EU countries in 2024, at 2.61 million. Malta had the lowest, at 19,854. The median was 210,050 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 13.92 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest2,605,758Germany
Lowest19,854Malta
Median210,05027 EU countries
European Union (27)13,918,314History

All EU countries, 2024

Germany: 2,605,758 personsGermany2,605,758France: 2,058,414 personsFrance2,058,414Italy: 1,629,077 personsItaly1,629,077Spain: 1,333,477 personsSpain1,333,477Poland: 1,153,294 personsPoland1,153,294Netherlands: 571,066 personsNetherlands571,066Romania: 496,282 personsRomania496,282Portugal: 460,413 personsPortugal460,413Sweden: 413,421 personsSweden413,421Czechia: 412,733 personsCzechia412,733Austria: 352,478 personsAustria352,478Belgium: 344,356 personsBelgium344,356Hungary: 317,437 personsHungary317,437Greece: 210,050 personsGreece210,050Ireland: 209,729 personsIreland209,729Slovakia: 201,551 personsSlovakia201,551Denmark: 200,560 personsDenmark200,560Finland: 169,006 personsFinland169,006Bulgaria: 167,238 personsBulgaria167,238Croatia: 161,695 personsCroatia161,695Lithuania: 136,724 personsLithuania136,724Slovenia: 84,531 personsSlovenia84,531Latvia: 64,117 personsLatvia64,117Estonia: 55,060 personsEstonia55,060Luxembourg: 50,079 personsLuxembourg50,079Cyprus: 39,914 personsCyprus39,914Malta: 19,854 personsMalta19,854Germany: 2,605,758 personsGermany2,605,758France: 2,058,414 personsFrance2,058,414Italy: 1,629,077 personsItaly1,629,077Spain: 1,333,477 personsSpain1,333,477Poland: 1,153,294 personsPoland1,153,294Netherlands: 571,066 personsNetherlands571,066Romania: 496,282 personsRomania496,282Portugal: 460,413 personsPortugal460,413Sweden: 413,421 personsSweden413,421Czechia: 412,733 personsCzechia412,733Austria: 352,478 personsAustria352,478Belgium: 344,356 personsBelgium344,356Hungary: 317,437 personsHungary317,437Greece: 210,050 personsGreece210,050Ireland: 209,729 personsIreland209,729Slovakia: 201,551 personsSlovakia201,551Denmark: 200,560 personsDenmark200,560Finland: 169,006 personsFinland169,006Bulgaria: 167,238 personsBulgaria167,238Croatia: 161,695 personsCroatia161,695Lithuania: 136,724 personsLithuania136,724Slovenia: 84,531 personsSlovenia84,531Latvia: 64,117 personsLatvia64,117Estonia: 55,060 personsEstonia55,060Luxembourg: 50,079 personsLuxembourg50,079Cyprus: 39,914 personsCyprus39,914Malta: 19,854 personsMalta19,854
persons. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics, Construction (NACE Rev. 2 section F), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankEU countries2024
persons
Change on 2023
1Germany2,605,758-0.6%
2France2,058,414+0.1%
3Italy1,629,077+0.2%
4Spain1,333,477-0.8%
5Poland1,153,294+0.5%
6Netherlands571,066+1.6%
7Romania496,282-3.9%
8Portugal460,413+7%
9Sweden413,421-4.7%
10Czechia412,733-0.5%
11Austria352,478-1.9%
12Belgium344,356-4.7%
13Hungary317,437-3.9%
14Greece210,050+12.8%
15Ireland209,729+1.6%
16Slovakia201,551+0.2%
17Denmark200,560+0.5%
18Finland169,006-6.1%
19Bulgaria167,238+5.3%
20Croatia161,695+7.2%
21Lithuania136,724+0.9%
22Slovenia84,531-0.9%
23Latvia64,117+5.1%
24Estonia55,060-3.1%
25Luxembourg50,079-5.3%
26Cyprus39,914+2%
27Malta19,854+3.9%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of persons who work in enterprises of construction (NACE Rev. 2 section F): 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, Construction (NACE Rev. 2 section F), 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, Construction (NACE Rev. 2 section F), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act) (EU countries by persons employed in construction, 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, Construction (NACE Rev. 2 section F), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act), EU countries by persons employed in construction, 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-construction/eu-countries. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Structural business statistics, Construction (NACE Rev. 2 section F), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). EU countries by persons employed in construction, 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-construction/eu-countries.

Harvard

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

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

Germany, with 2.61 million in 2024, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest persons employed in construction?

Malta, with 19,854 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, Construction (NACE Rev. 2 section F), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

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