EU countries by persons employed in construction

Germany had the highest persons employed in construction of 27 EU countries in 2021, at 2.62 million. Malta had the lowest, at 16,491. The median was 195,382 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 13.42 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest2,618,160Germany

Lowest16,491Malta

Median195,38227 EU countries

European Union (27)13,417,908History

Map of EU countries, 2021

Under 90K
90K to 170K
170K to 340K
340K to 520K
520K and over

persons, 2021. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics, Construction (NACE Rev. 2 section F), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2021

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

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2021 persons	Change on 2020
1	Germany Series break	2,618,160	-0.6%
2	France Series break	1,994,586	+6.8%
3	Italy Series break	1,457,006	+7.5%
4	Spain Series break	1,310,030	+5.2%
5	Poland Series break	1,170,955	+5%
6	Netherlands Series break	525,245	+3.4%
7	Romania Series break	494,593	+11.4%
8	Sweden Series break	455,138	+5%
9	Czechia Series break	398,984	+4%
10	Portugal Series break	379,596	+4.8%
11	Austria Series break	352,610	+6.5%
12	Belgium Series break	328,415	-5.3%
13	Hungary Series break	319,775	+13.5%
14	Denmark Series break	195,382	+2%
15	Slovakia Series break	182,014	+3.8%
16	Finland Series break	179,504	-13.3%
17	Ireland Series break	170,446	+8.3%
18	Greece Series break	167,620	+10.2%
19	Bulgaria Series break	153,822	-0.1%
20	Croatia Series break	134,352	+6%
21	Lithuania Series break	123,940	+7%
22	Slovenia Series break	77,099	+4.8%
23	Latvia Series break	68,383	-2.6%
24	Estonia Series break	54,719	+6.2%
25	Luxembourg Series break	52,351	+4.1%
26	Cyprus Series break	36,692	+0.7%
27	Malta Series break	16,491	+17.6%

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, 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, Construction (NACE Rev. 2 section F), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act), EU countries by persons employed in construction, 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-construction/eu-countries?period=2021. 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, 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-construction/eu-countries?period=2021.

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, 2021 [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?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_persons_2021,
  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, 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-construction/eu-countries?period=2021. 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, 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-construction/eu-countries?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-construction/eu-countries?period=2021.
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 2.62 million in 2021, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest persons employed in construction?

Malta, with 16,491 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, Construction (NACE Rev. 2 section F), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Retrieved 2026-10-12.