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 2021, at 2.64 million. Malta had the lowest, at 21,157. The median was 259,404 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 11.64 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest2,644,529Germany

Lowest21,157Malta

Median259,40427 EU countries

European Union (27)11,637,951History

Map of EU countries, 2021

Under 70K
70K to 170K
170K to 290K
290K to 680K
680K and over

persons, 2021. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics, Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2021

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

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2021 persons	Change on 2020
1	Germany Series break	2,644,529	+4.2%
2	Italy Series break	1,384,621	+4.7%
3	France Series break	1,379,707	+2.6%
4	Spain Series break	1,081,928	-6.5%
5	Poland Series break	767,937	+6.4%
6	Netherlands Series break	759,490	+5.2%
7	Belgium Series break	359,721	+3.2%
8	Sweden Series break	359,489	+8.6%
9	Hungary Series break	311,517	+6%
10	Czechia Series break	302,717	+5%
11	Portugal Series break	298,268	+4.3%
12	Austria Series break	273,460	+10%
13	Greece Series break	264,850	+9.6%
14	Romania Series break	259,404	+16.6%
15	Ireland Series break	182,657	+5.8%
16	Denmark Series break	178,961	+4.2%
17	Slovakia Series break	158,521	+0.5%
18	Finland Series break	133,592	-2.3%
19	Bulgaria Series break	117,037	+2.8%
20	Croatia Series break	89,425	+4%
21	Lithuania Series break	77,471	+5.2%
22	Slovenia Series break	66,051	+2.5%
23	Luxembourg Series break	47,298	+4.3%
24	Latvia Series break	43,269	-7.3%
25	Estonia Series break	39,419	+26.8%
26	Cyprus Series break	35,455	+6.2%
27	Malta Series break	21,157	+6.1%

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, Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), 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, Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act) (EU countries by persons employed in professional, scientific and technical activities, 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, Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act), EU countries by persons employed in professional, scientific and technical activities, 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-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Structural business statistics, Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). EU countries by persons employed in professional, scientific and technical activities, 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-professional-scientific/eu-countries?period=2021.

Harvard

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

BibTeX

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

Germany, with 2.64 million in 2021, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

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

Malta, with 21,157 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, Professional, scientific and technical activities (NACE Rev. 2 section M), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Retrieved 2026-10-12.