EU countries by persons employed in manufacturing, 2024

Germany had the highest persons employed in manufacturing of 27 EU countries in 2024, at 7.9 million. Malta had the lowest, at 26,143. The median was 478,078 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 29.96 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest7,901,036Germany

Lowest26,143Malta

Median478,07827 EU countries

European Union (27)29,962,568History

All EU countries, 2024

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

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2024 persons	Change on 2023
1	Germany	7,901,036	-3.2%
2	Italy	3,943,190	+0.7%
3	France	3,265,897	+0.2%
4	Poland	2,829,435	-1.8%
5	Spain	2,188,022	+2%
6	Czechia	1,248,982	-1.9%
7	Romania	1,072,454	-3.2%
8	Netherlands	779,290	+1.3%
9	Hungary	769,452	-1.2%
10	Portugal	750,259	-0.3%
11	Austria	727,738	-0.8%
12	Sweden	621,183	0%
13	Belgium	501,087	-3.5%
14	Bulgaria	478,078	-3.2%
15	Slovakia	477,988	-2.7%
16	Greece	406,514	+4.7%
17	Denmark	345,308	+1.9%
18	Finland	326,507	-1.1%
19	Croatia	278,470	+0.7%
20	Ireland	278,377	+2.2%
21	Lithuania	231,688	-0.1%
22	Slovenia	222,541	-1%
23	Latvia	115,928	+0.4%
24	Estonia	105,367	-3.3%
25	Cyprus	38,213	+1.4%
26	Luxembourg	33,421	-2.3%
27	Malta	26,143	+2.6%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of persons who work in enterprises of manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C): 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, Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), 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, Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act) (EU countries by persons employed in manufacturing, 2024) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_ovw_act/default/table

MLA 9

Structural business statistics, Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act), EU countries by persons employed in manufacturing, 2024. 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-manufacturing/eu-countries. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Structural business statistics, Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). EU countries by persons employed in manufacturing, 2024. 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-manufacturing/eu-countries.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Structural business statistics, Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act), EU countries by persons employed in manufacturing, 2024 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_ovw_act/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-manufacturing/eu-countries (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_persons_2024,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Structural business statistics, Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), persons employed, number (sbs\_ovw\_act): EU countries by persons employed in manufacturing, 2024}},
  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-manufacturing/eu-countries. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics, Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), 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, Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act): EU countries by persons employed in manufacturing, 2024
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-manufacturing/eu-countries
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-manufacturing/eu-countries.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics, Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), 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 manufacturing?

Germany, with 7.9 million in 2024, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest persons employed in manufacturing?

Malta, with 26,143 in 2024.

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, Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Retrieved 2026-10-12.