EU countries by persons employed in information and communication

Germany had the highest persons employed in information and communication of 27 EU countries in 2017, at 1.3 million. Malta had the lowest, at 9,186. The median was 102,124 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 5.8 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest1,299,955Germany

Lowest9,186Malta

Median102,12427 EU countries

European Union (27)5,795,481History

Map of EU countries, 2017

Under 30K
30K to 100K
100K to 130K
130K to 300K
300K and over

persons, 2017. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2017

persons. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2017 persons	Change on 2016
1	Germany	1,299,955	+4.8%
2	France Series break	921,196	+6%
3	Italy Series break	573,778	+2.9%
4	Spain	481,155	+4.5%
5	Poland	384,207	+7.3%
6	Netherlands	310,316	+4.9%
7	Sweden	245,983	+4.2%
8	Romania	188,881	+5.6%
9	Czechia	139,848	+7%
10	Belgium	133,434	+3.9%
11	Hungary	132,723	+3.9%
12	Austria	115,321	+4.3%
13	Denmark	114,282	+1.6%
14	Portugal	102,124	+8.5%
15	Ireland	102,027	+7.1%
16	Bulgaria	100,949	+6.5%
17	Finland Series break	98,030	+4%
18	Greece	80,821	+1.3%
19	Slovakia	68,643	+6.9%
20	Croatia	42,364	+6.1%
21	Lithuania	34,952	+3.6%
22	Latvia	34,396	+6.4%
23	Slovenia	26,665	+3.6%
24	Estonia	24,464	+11.7%
25	Luxembourg	19,248	+7.5%
26	Cyprus	10,731	+7.5%
27	Malta	9,186	n/a

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of persons who work in enterprises of information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J): 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), Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), 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), Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2) (EU countries by persons employed in information and communication, 2017) [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), Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by persons employed in information and communication, 2017. 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-information-communication/eu-countries?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2024. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). EU countries by persons employed in information and communication, 2017. 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-information-communication/eu-countries?period=2017.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2024) Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by persons employed in information and communication, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_na_sca_r2/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-information-communication/eu-countries?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_persons_2017,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), persons employed, number (sbs\_na\_sca\_r2): EU countries by persons employed in information and communication, 2017}},
  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-information-communication/eu-countries?period=2017. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), 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), Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2): EU countries by persons employed in information and communication, 2017
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-information-communication/eu-countries?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-information-communication/eu-countries?period=2017.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), 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 information and communication?

Germany, with 1.3 million in 2017, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest persons employed in information and communication?

Malta, with 9,186 in 2017.

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), Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.