EU countries by persons employed in real estate activities
Germany had the highest persons employed in real estate activities of 27 EU countries in 2021, at 670,390. Cyprus had the lowest, at 3,373. The median was 55,061 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 2.69 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.
Map of EU countries, 2021
- Under 19K
- 19K to 34K
- 34K to 70K
- 70K to 94K
- 94K and over
All EU countries, 2021
Full ranking
| Rank | EU countries | 2021 | Change on 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany Series break | 670,390 | +34% |
| 2 | France Series break | 342,155 | +11.3% |
| 3 | Italy Series break | 277,226 | -7.2% |
| 4 | Spain Series break | 264,802 | -3% |
| 5 | Poland Series break | 199,574 | +2% |
| 6 | Sweden Series break | 96,152 | +7.6% |
| 7 | Portugal Series break | 86,029 | +8.8% |
| 8 | Belgium Series break | 80,936 | -0.5% |
| 9 | Netherlands Series break | 79,620 | +1.6% |
| 10 | Hungary Series break | 75,314 | -0.7% |
| 11 | Czechia Series break | 74,265 | +21% |
| 12 | Denmark Series break | 63,513 | +4.6% |
| 13 | Austria Series break | 59,792 | +11.7% |
| 14 | Romania Series break | 55,061 | +15.1% |
| 15 | Bulgaria Series break | 40,200 | +1.2% |
| 16 | Slovakia Series break | 34,713 | +0.5% |
| 17 | Lithuania Series break | 32,758 | +5.6% |
| 18 | Ireland Series break | 30,807 | -0.2% |
| 19 | Latvia Series break | 28,816 | -6.9% |
| 20 | Finland Series break | 25,266 | -9.2% |
| 21 | Greece Series break | 24,678 | +17.5% |
| 22 | Estonia Series break | 17,107 | +35.4% |
| 23 | Croatia Series break | 11,625 | -5.2% |
| 24 | Slovenia Series break | 6,537 | +3.6% |
| 25 | Luxembourg Series break | 4,987 | +1.4% |
| 26 | Malta Series break | 4,212 | +37.2% |
| 27 | Cyprus Series break | 3,373 | +9.2% |
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, Real estate activities (NACE Rev. 2 section L), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_ovw_act/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.Citation styles
APA 7
Eurostat, European Commission. (2026). Structural business statistics, Real estate activities (NACE Rev. 2 section L), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act) (EU countries by persons employed in real estate 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, Real estate activities (NACE Rev. 2 section L), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act), EU countries by persons employed in real estate 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-real-estate/eu-countries?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.
Chicago (author-date)
Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Structural business statistics, Real estate activities (NACE Rev. 2 section L), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). EU countries by persons employed in real estate 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-real-estate/eu-countries?period=2021.
Harvard
Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Structural business statistics, Real estate activities (NACE Rev. 2 section L), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act), EU countries by persons employed in real estate 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-real-estate/eu-countries?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_persons_2021,
author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
title = {{Structural business statistics, Real estate activities (NACE Rev. 2 section L), persons employed, number (sbs\_ovw\_act): EU countries by persons employed in real estate 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-real-estate/eu-countries?period=2021. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics, Real estate activities (NACE Rev. 2 section L), 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, Real estate activities (NACE Rev. 2 section L), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act): EU countries by persons employed in real estate 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-real-estate/eu-countries?period=2021
Y2 - 2026/10/12
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-real-estate/eu-countries?period=2021.
N1 - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics, Real estate activities (NACE Rev. 2 section L), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_ovw_act/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER -
Use this data in your AI agent
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Rank EU countries by persons employed in real estate activities using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"sbs_persons_employed_real_estate","level":"country","within":"European Union (27)","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=sbs_persons_employed_real_estate&level=country&within=European%20Union%20(27)&limit=10Questions
Which EU country has the highest persons employed in real estate activities?
Germany, with 670,390 in 2021, according to Eurostat, European Commission.
Which EU country has the lowest persons employed in real estate activities?
Cyprus, with 3,373 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, Real estate activities (NACE Rev. 2 section L), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Retrieved 2026-10-12.
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