EU countries by persons employed in professional, scientific and technical activities

Germany had the highest persons employed in professional, scientific and technical activities of 27 EU countries in 2013, at 2.22 million. Malta had the lowest, at 10,332. The median was 197,036 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 9.67 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest2,224,671Germany

Lowest10,332Malta

Median197,03627 EU countries

European Union (27)9,669,220History

Map of EU countries, 2013

Under 50K
50K to 120K
120K to 210K
210K to 490K
490K and over

persons, 2013. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2013

persons. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2013 persons	Change on 2012
1	Germany	2,224,671	+5%
2	France	1,414,381	-0.3%
3	Italy	1,173,842	-0.8%
4	Spain	907,671	-2.2%
5	Netherlands	634,378	+3.2%
6	Poland	537,684	+1.2%
7	Sweden	292,194	+0.7%
8	Belgium	273,970	+4.8%
9	Czechia	248,281	+0.3%
10	Austria	236,332	+5.5%
11	Portugal	215,466	+0.2%
12	Greece	203,457	-3.8%
13	Hungary	203,322	-2.4%
14	Romania	197,036	+0.9%
15	Denmark	161,217	+4.9%
16	Finland Series break	118,608	+4.4%
17	Ireland	115,426	+4.1%
18	Slovakia	103,983	+3.1%
19	Bulgaria	93,352	+0.3%
20	Croatia	79,904	+2.6%
21	Slovenia	54,744	+6.3%
22	Lithuania	52,983	+4.4%
23	Latvia	38,802	+4.5%
24	Luxembourg	30,186	+5.4%
25	Estonia	26,133	+4.6%
26	Cyprus	20,356	-6.9%
27	Malta	10,332	+3.4%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of persons who work in enterprises of professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M): 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), Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), 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), Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2) (EU countries by persons employed in professional, scientific and technical activities, 2013) [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), Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by persons employed in professional, scientific and technical activities, 2013. 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-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2013. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2024. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). EU countries by persons employed in professional, scientific and technical activities, 2013. 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-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2013.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2024) Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by persons employed in professional, scientific and technical activities, 2013 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_na_sca_r2/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2013 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_persons_2013,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), persons employed, number (sbs\_na\_sca\_r2): EU countries by persons employed in professional, scientific and technical activities, 2013}},
  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-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2013. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), 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), Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2): EU countries by persons employed in professional, scientific and technical activities, 2013
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-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2013
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2013.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), 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 professional, scientific and technical activities?

Germany, with 2.22 million in 2013, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest persons employed in professional, scientific and technical activities?

Malta, with 10,332 in 2013.

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), Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.