EU countries by persons employed in real estate activities

Germany had the highest persons employed in real estate activities of 27 EU countries in 2018, at 550,798. Cyprus had the lowest, at 2,738. The median was 49,272 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 2.46 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest550,798Germany

Lowest2,738Cyprus

Median49,27227 EU countries

European Union (27)2,459,806History

Map of EU countries, 2018

Under 14K
14K to 33K
33K to 60K
60K to 87K
87K and over

persons, 2018. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Real estate activities (NACE Rev. 2 section L), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2018

persons. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Real estate activities (NACE Rev. 2 section L), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2018 persons	Change on 2017
1	Germany Series break	550,798	+9.3%
2	France	304,136	-1.4%
3	Italy	293,399	-0.7%
4	Spain Series break	267,191	+0.7%
5	Poland Series break	188,236	-8.3%
6	Sweden Series break	89,028	-2.3%
7	Belgium Series break	76,946	+2.5%
8	Netherlands	75,063	+0.3%
9	Hungary Series break	74,066	+8.3%
10	Portugal	71,776	+11.9%
11	Denmark	61,149	+0.9%
12	Czechia	59,169	+2.8%
13	Austria Series break	49,691	-1.9%
14	Romania Series break	49,272	+2.2%
15	Bulgaria Series break	39,059	+2%
16	Slovakia	34,556	+4.7%
17	Latvia	32,015	+0.4%
18	Ireland	29,219	+4%
19	Lithuania Series break	28,474	+1.1%
20	Finland	26,297	+6.4%
21	Greece Series break	18,861	+35.4%
22	Estonia Series break	12,778	+4.1%
23	Croatia	12,279	-4.4%
24	Slovenia	5,946	+8.7%
25	Luxembourg	4,863	+5.8%
26	Malta	3,016	+23.8%
27	Cyprus	2,738	+14.3%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of persons who work in enterprises of real estate activities (NACE Rev. 2 section L): 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), Real estate activities (NACE Rev. 2 section L), 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), Real estate activities (NACE Rev. 2 section L), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2) (EU countries by persons employed in real estate activities, 2018) [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), Real estate activities (NACE Rev. 2 section L), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by persons employed in real estate activities, 2018. 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-real-estate/eu-countries?period=2018. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2024. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Real estate activities (NACE Rev. 2 section L), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). EU countries by persons employed in real estate activities, 2018. 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-real-estate/eu-countries?period=2018.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2024) Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Real estate activities (NACE Rev. 2 section L), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by persons employed in real estate activities, 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_na_sca_r2/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-real-estate/eu-countries?period=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_persons_2018,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Real estate activities (NACE Rev. 2 section L), persons employed, number (sbs\_na\_sca\_r2): EU countries by persons employed in real estate activities, 2018}},
  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-real-estate/eu-countries?period=2018. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Real estate activities (NACE Rev. 2 section L), 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), Real estate activities (NACE Rev. 2 section L), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2): EU countries by persons employed in real estate activities, 2018
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-real-estate/eu-countries?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-real-estate/eu-countries?period=2018.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Real estate activities (NACE Rev. 2 section L), 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 real estate activities?

Germany, with 550,798 in 2018, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest persons employed in real estate activities?

Cyprus, with 2,738 in 2018.

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), Real estate activities (NACE Rev. 2 section L), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.