EU countries by persons employed in construction

Germany had the highest persons employed in construction of 27 EU countries in 2018, at 2.47 million. Malta had the lowest, at 11,294. The median was 206,949 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 12.14 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest2,474,944Germany

Lowest11,294Malta

Median206,94927 EU countries

European Union (27)12,142,526History

Map of EU countries, 2018

Under 80K
80K to 160K
160K to 320K
320K to 470K
470K and over

persons, 2018. 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, 2018

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	2018 persons	Change on 2017
1	Germany Series break	2,474,944	+7.4%
2	France	1,715,599	+2.4%
3	Italy	1,309,288	-0.4%
4	Spain Series break	1,276,058	+10.9%
5	Poland Series break	1,005,742	+10.6%
6	Netherlands	471,054	+4.8%
7	Sweden Series break	441,827	+7%
8	Czechia	375,994	+1.6%
9	Romania Series break	365,146	+0.7%
10	Portugal	328,053	+4.8%
11	Belgium Series break	319,561	-4.8%
12	Austria Series break	318,393	+5.7%
13	Hungary Series break	240,855	+11.5%
14	Finland	206,949	+1.9%
15	Denmark	183,514	+4.6%
16	Slovakia	172,179	+4.6%
17	Bulgaria Series break	151,074	+3.1%
18	Greece Series break	148,178	+19.7%
19	Ireland	144,521	+5.3%
20	Lithuania Series break	109,242	+1.9%
21	Croatia	105,416	+2.9%
22	Latvia	72,336	+8.8%
23	Slovenia	67,309	+7.8%
24	Estonia Series break	50,119	+5%
25	Luxembourg	46,935	+4.3%
26	Cyprus	30,769	+17.8%
27	Malta	11,294	+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 (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, 2018) [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, 2018. 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=2018. 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, 2018. 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=2018.

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, 2018 [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=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_persons_2018,
  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, 2018}},
  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=2018. 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, 2018
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=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-construction/eu-countries?period=2018.
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 2.47 million in 2018, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest persons employed in construction?

Malta, with 11,294 in 2018.

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.