EU countries by persons employed in construction

Germany had the highest persons employed in construction of 27 EU countries in 2023, at 2.62 million. Malta had the lowest, at 19,101. The median was 206,446 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 13.94 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest2,622,799Germany

Lowest19,101Malta

Median206,44627 EU countries

European Union (27)13,937,338History

Map of EU countries, 2023

Under 100K
100K to 190K
190K to 360K
360K to 550K
550K and over

persons, 2023. 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, 2023

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	2023 persons	Change on 2022
1	Germany	2,622,799	-5.7%
2	France	2,056,713	+0.3%
3	Italy	1,625,219	+3.3%
4	Spain	1,344,462	+3.5%
5	Poland	1,146,998	-0.9%
6	Netherlands	561,951	+2.8%
7	Romania	516,167	+4.6%
8	Sweden	433,863	-0.8%
9	Portugal	430,378	+7.9%
10	Czechia	415,010	+1.6%
11	Belgium	361,402	+3.9%
12	Austria	359,370	-0.4%
13	Hungary	330,168	-1.2%
14	Ireland	206,446	+4.2%
15	Slovakia	201,123	+3.8%
16	Denmark	199,494	-0.8%
17	Greece	186,276	+9.1%
18	Finland	180,070	-3%
19	Bulgaria	158,781	+4.1%
20	Croatia	150,813	+7.6%
21	Lithuania	135,569	+2.6%
22	Slovenia	85,319	+3.3%
23	Latvia	61,029	-5.3%
24	Estonia	56,828	-1.8%
25	Luxembourg	52,870	-1.3%
26	Cyprus	39,119	+4.2%
27	Malta	19,101	+8.5%

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, 2023) [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, 2023. 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=2023. 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, 2023. 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=2023.

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, 2023 [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=2023 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_persons_2023,
  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, 2023}},
  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=2023. 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, 2023
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=2023
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-construction/eu-countries?period=2023.
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 2023, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest persons employed in construction?

Malta, with 19,101 in 2023.

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.