EU countries by persons employed in information and communication

Germany had the highest persons employed in information and communication of 27 EU countries in 2021, at 1.55 million. Malta had the lowest, at 11,457. The median was 134,280 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 6.76 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest1,545,377Germany

Lowest11,457Malta

Median134,28027 EU countries

European Union (27)6,759,139History

Map of EU countries, 2021

Under 40K
40K to 120K
120K to 150K
150K to 340K
340K and over

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

All EU countries, 2021

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

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2021 persons	Change on 2020
1	Germany Series break	1,545,377	+4.5%
2	France Series break	986,714	+3.1%
3	Italy Series break	617,937	+4%
4	Spain Series break	558,861	+1.2%
5	Poland Series break	474,419	+8.9%
6	Netherlands Series break	354,550	+3.9%
7	Sweden Series break	270,006	+6.6%
8	Romania Series break	245,066	+12.9%
9	Czechia Series break	164,697	+4.6%
10	Hungary Series break	161,873	+7.4%
11	Belgium Series break	157,627	+5.6%
12	Portugal Series break	146,086	+11.6%
13	Austria Series break	138,975	+11.8%
14	Ireland Series break	134,280	+9.4%
15	Bulgaria Series break	127,103	+7.8%
16	Denmark Series break	126,832	+3.3%
17	Finland Series break	108,296	+0.8%
18	Greece Series break	97,459	+9.9%
19	Slovakia Series break	80,724	+3.5%
20	Croatia Series break	57,833	+8.3%
21	Lithuania Series break	47,430	+15.2%
22	Latvia Series break	40,149	+3%
23	Estonia Series break	34,825	+16.7%
24	Slovenia Series break	31,913	+4.2%
25	Luxembourg Series break	22,174	+6.8%
26	Cyprus Series break	16,476	+15.6%
27	Malta Series break	11,457	+5.9%

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, Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), 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, Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act) (EU countries by persons employed in information and communication, 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, Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act), EU countries by persons employed in information and communication, 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-information-communication/eu-countries?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Structural business statistics, Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). EU countries by persons employed in information and communication, 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-information-communication/eu-countries?period=2021.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Structural business statistics, Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act), EU countries by persons employed in information and communication, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_ovw_act/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-information-communication/eu-countries?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_persons_2021,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Structural business statistics, Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), persons employed, number (sbs\_ovw\_act): EU countries by persons employed in information and communication, 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-information-communication/eu-countries?period=2021. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics, Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), 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, Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act): EU countries by persons employed in information and communication, 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-information-communication/eu-countries?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-information-communication/eu-countries?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics, Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), 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 information and communication?

Germany, with 1.55 million in 2021, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

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

Malta, with 11,457 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, Information and communication (NACE Rev. 2 section J), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Retrieved 2026-10-12.