EU countries by persons employed in wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles

Germany had the highest persons employed in wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles of 27 EU countries in 2017, at 6.42 million. Malta had the lowest, at 35,339. The median was 570,149 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 28.77 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest6,416,027Germany

Lowest35,339Malta

Median570,14927 EU countries

European Union (27)28,769,707History

Map of EU countries, 2017

Under 170K
170K to 400K
400K to 680K
680K to 1.4M
1.4M and over

persons, 2017. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (NACE Rev. 2 section G), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2017

persons. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (NACE Rev. 2 section G), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2017 persons	Change on 2016
1	Germany	6,416,027	+1.9%
2	Italy Series break	3,406,746	+1%
3	France Series break	3,357,758	-3.4%
4	Spain	3,139,516	+1%
5	Poland	2,305,179	+0.3%
6	Netherlands	1,523,876	+2.3%
7	Romania	922,994	+1.8%
8	Portugal	768,712	+2.6%
9	Czechia	706,922	-0.2%
10	Greece	690,362	-3%
11	Sweden	684,054	+1.3%
12	Austria	668,351	+1.7%
13	Belgium	621,117	+0.4%
14	Hungary	570,149	-0.7%
15	Bulgaria	515,691	+1.3%
16	Denmark	460,646	+1.4%
17	Ireland	367,405	+3.2%
18	Slovakia	353,163	+3%
19	Finland Series break	287,955	-0.6%
20	Lithuania	250,570	-2.1%
21	Croatia	228,341	0%
22	Latvia	157,866	-1%
23	Slovenia	117,043	+2.5%
24	Estonia	93,852	+0.5%
25	Cyprus	68,475	+6%
26	Luxembourg	51,594	+1.3%
27	Malta	35,339	+2.4%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of persons who work in enterprises of wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (NACE Rev. 2 section G): 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), Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (NACE Rev. 2 section G), 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), Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (NACE Rev. 2 section G), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2) (EU countries by persons employed in wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles, 2017) [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), Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (NACE Rev. 2 section G), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by persons employed in wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles, 2017. 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-trade/eu-countries?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2024. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (NACE Rev. 2 section G), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). EU countries by persons employed in wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles, 2017. 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-trade/eu-countries?period=2017.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2024) Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (NACE Rev. 2 section G), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2), EU countries by persons employed in wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_na_sca_r2/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-trade/eu-countries?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_persons_2017,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (NACE Rev. 2 section G), persons employed, number (sbs\_na\_sca\_r2): EU countries by persons employed in wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles, 2017}},
  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-trade/eu-countries?period=2017. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (NACE Rev. 2 section G), 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), Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (NACE Rev. 2 section G), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2): EU countries by persons employed in wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles, 2017
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-trade/eu-countries?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-trade/eu-countries?period=2017.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics (2005 to 2020), Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (NACE Rev. 2 section G), 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 wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles?

Germany, with 6.42 million in 2017, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest persons employed in wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles?

Malta, with 35,339 in 2017.

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), Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (NACE Rev. 2 section G), persons employed, number (sbs_na_sca_r2). Retrieved 2026-10-12.