EU countries by persons employed in manufacturing

Germany had the highest persons employed in manufacturing of 27 EU countries in 2020, at 7.88 million. Malta had the lowest, at 23,302. The median was 504,587 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 29.4 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest7,884,526Germany

Lowest23,302Malta

Median504,58727 EU countries

European Union (27)29,400,531History

Map of EU countries, 2020

Under 220K
220K to 340K
340K to 660K
660K to 1.2M
1.2M and over

persons, 2020. 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, 2020

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	2020 persons	Change on 2019
1	Germany	7,884,526	-4.3%
2	Italy	3,745,463	-1.7%
3	France	3,180,403	+1.4%
4	Poland	2,841,776	-2.1%
5	Spain	2,044,599	-1%
6	Czechia	1,276,070	-3.1%
7	Romania	1,128,671	-6.1%
8	Hungary	768,083	-3.1%
9	Netherlands	733,681	-0.3%
10	Portugal	718,176	-3.7%
11	Austria	686,328	-0.9%
12	Sweden	620,851	-5%
13	Belgium	510,836	-1.9%
14	Bulgaria	504,587	-6.7%
15	Slovakia	490,659	-4.3%
16	Greece	350,538	-0.5%
17	Finland	340,095	-1.2%
18	Denmark	315,107	-0.4%
19	Croatia	271,072	-2.7%
20	Ireland	236,067	-1.3%
21	Lithuania	220,375	-0.6%
22	Slovenia	214,890	-2.5%
23	Latvia	117,137	-0.8%
24	Estonia	107,567	-3%
25	Cyprus	35,057	-1.3%
26	Luxembourg	34,616	-0.7%
27	Malta	23,302	-0.3%

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, 2020) [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, 2020. 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=2020. 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, 2020. 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=2020.

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, 2020 [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=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_persons_2020,
  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, 2020}},
  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=2020. 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, 2020
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=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-manufacturing/eu-countries?period=2020.
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 7.88 million in 2020, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest persons employed in manufacturing?

Malta, with 23,302 in 2020.

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.