EU countries by persons employed in manufacturing

Germany had the highest persons employed in manufacturing of 27 EU countries in 2017, at 7.41 million. Malta had the lowest, at 22,577. The median was 501,318 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 28.53 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest7,409,552Germany

Lowest22,577Malta

Median501,31827 EU countries

European Union (27)28,531,905History

Map of EU countries, 2017

Under 210K
210K to 330K
330K to 630K
630K to 1.3M
1.3M and over

persons, 2017. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), 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), Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2017 persons	Change on 2016
1	Germany	7,409,552	+0.7%
2	Italy Series break	3,744,271	+2.2%
3	France Series break	3,103,594	+6.8%
4	Poland	2,654,823	+2.7%
5	Spain	1,917,714	+3.4%
6	Czechia	1,319,351	+2%
7	Romania	1,215,909	+0.5%
8	Hungary	757,819	+2.5%
9	Portugal	711,684	+3.6%
10	Netherlands	698,469	+1.8%
11	Austria	638,612	+1.5%
12	Sweden	610,194	+2.5%
13	Bulgaria	556,138	+1.3%
14	Slovakia	501,318	+4.7%
15	Belgium	500,846	+1.3%
16	Finland Series break	332,937	+0.2%
17	Greece	320,879	+1.5%
18	Denmark	310,419	+1.6%
19	Croatia	268,726	+1.7%
20	Ireland	219,762	+3.1%
21	Lithuania	216,528	+0.9%
22	Slovenia	204,929	+4%
23	Latvia	119,451	-0.1%
24	Estonia	110,126	+1.1%
25	Luxembourg	34,118	+1.5%
26	Cyprus	31,881	+7.2%
27	Malta	22,577	-0.5%

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 (2005 to 2020), Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), 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), Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2) (EU countries by persons employed in manufacturing, 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), Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by persons employed in manufacturing, 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-manufacturing/eu-countries?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

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

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2024) Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by persons employed in manufacturing, 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-manufacturing/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), Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), persons employed, number (sbs\_na\_sca\_r2): EU countries by persons employed in manufacturing, 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-manufacturing/eu-countries?period=2017. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), 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), Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2): EU countries by persons employed in manufacturing, 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-manufacturing/eu-countries?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-manufacturing/eu-countries?period=2017.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), 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 manufacturing?

Germany, with 7.41 million in 2017, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest persons employed in manufacturing?

Malta, with 22,577 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), Manufacturing (NACE Rev. 2 section C), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.