EU countries by persons employed in construction

Germany had the highest persons employed in construction of 27 EU countries in 2016, at 2.27 million. Malta had the lowest, at 10,969. The median was 192,361 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 11.29 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest2,272,627Germany

Lowest10,969Malta

Median192,36127 EU countries

European Union (27)11,294,997History

Map of EU countries, 2016

Under 70K
70K to 150K
150K to 300K
300K to 430K
430K and over

persons, 2016. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Construction (NACE Rev. 2 section F), 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), Construction (NACE Rev. 2 section F), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2016 persons	Change on 2015
1	Germany	2,272,627	+3.2%
2	France Series break	1,651,096	+7.9%
3	Italy	1,324,178	0%
4	Spain	1,095,710	+3.4%
5	Poland	889,264	+4.6%
6	Netherlands	435,174	+0.9%
7	Sweden	394,421	+3.8%
8	Romania	373,779	-0.3%
9	Czechia	367,291	-0.5%
10	Belgium	318,302	+1.7%
11	Portugal	301,862	+1.5%
12	Austria	292,359	+1.5%
13	Hungary	206,521	+2.2%
14	Finland	192,361	+2.5%
15	Denmark Series break	168,959	-4%
16	Slovakia	152,398	+0.9%
17	Greece	147,969	+12.5%
18	Bulgaria	142,663	-3.1%
19	Ireland	120,341	+10.7%
20	Lithuania	105,014	-0.7%
21	Croatia	98,850	-0.9%
22	Latvia	63,450	-5.9%
23	Slovenia	61,113	-1.5%
24	Estonia	46,239	+4.6%
25	Luxembourg	43,750	+3.1%
26	Cyprus	21,364	+10.2%
27	Malta	10,969	+2.4%

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 (2005 to 2020), Construction (NACE Rev. 2 section F), 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), Construction (NACE Rev. 2 section F), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2) (EU countries by persons employed in construction, 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), Construction (NACE Rev. 2 section F), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by persons employed in construction, 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-construction/eu-countries?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2024. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Construction (NACE Rev. 2 section F), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). EU countries by persons employed in construction, 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-construction/eu-countries?period=2016.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2024) Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Construction (NACE Rev. 2 section F), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by persons employed in construction, 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-construction/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), Construction (NACE Rev. 2 section F), persons employed, number (sbs\_na\_sca\_r2): EU countries by persons employed in construction, 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-construction/eu-countries?period=2016. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Construction (NACE Rev. 2 section F), 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), Construction (NACE Rev. 2 section F), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2): EU countries by persons employed in construction, 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-construction/eu-countries?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-construction/eu-countries?period=2016.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Construction (NACE Rev. 2 section F), 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 construction?

Germany, with 2.27 million in 2016, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest persons employed in construction?

Malta, with 10,969 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), Construction (NACE Rev. 2 section F), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.