Data / Rankings / Persons employed in wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles / EU countries

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 2022, at 6.43 million. Malta had the lowest, at 40,784. The median was 606,822 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 29.83 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest6,426,772Germany
Lowest40,784Malta
Median606,82227 EU countries
European Union (27)29,830,559History

Map of EU countries, 2022

Austria: 720,609 personsBelgium: 606,822 personsBulgaria: 510,582 personsCyprus: 75,841 personsCzechia: 746,591 personsGermany: 6,426,772 personsDenmark: 489,745 personsEstonia: 101,418 personsSpain: 3,138,742 personsFinland: 283,823 personsFrance: 3,744,575 personsGreece: 815,167 personsCroatia: 246,731 personsHungary: 610,986 personsIreland: 413,595 personsItaly: 3,419,404 personsLithuania: 247,650 personsLuxembourg: 54,590 personsLatvia: 144,543 personsMalta: 40,784 personsNetherlands: 1,622,578 personsPoland: 2,422,612 personsPortugal: 825,348 personsRomania: 991,004 personsSweden: 676,499 personsSlovenia: 123,930 personsSlovakia: 329,618 persons
  • Under 160K
  • 160K to 440K
  • 440K to 700K
  • 700K to 1.5M
  • 1.5M and over
persons, 2022. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics, Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (NACE Rev. 2 section G), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2022

Germany: 6,426,772 personsGermany6,426,772France: 3,744,575 personsFrance3,744,575Italy: 3,419,404 personsItaly3,419,404Spain: 3,138,742 personsSpain3,138,742Poland: 2,422,612 personsPoland2,422,612Netherlands: 1,622,578 personsNetherlands1,622,578Romania: 991,004 personsRomania991,004Portugal: 825,348 personsPortugal825,348Greece: 815,167 personsGreece815,167Czechia: 746,591 personsCzechia746,591Austria: 720,609 personsAustria720,609Sweden: 676,499 personsSweden676,499Hungary: 610,986 personsHungary610,986Belgium: 606,822 personsBelgium606,822Bulgaria: 510,582 personsBulgaria510,582Denmark: 489,745 personsDenmark489,745Ireland: 413,595 personsIreland413,595Slovakia: 329,618 personsSlovakia329,618Finland: 283,823 personsFinland283,823Lithuania: 247,650 personsLithuania247,650Croatia: 246,731 personsCroatia246,731Latvia: 144,543 personsLatvia144,543Slovenia: 123,930 personsSlovenia123,930Estonia: 101,418 personsEstonia101,418Cyprus: 75,841 personsCyprus75,841Luxembourg: 54,590 personsLuxembourg54,590Malta: 40,784 personsMalta40,784Germany: 6,426,772 personsGermany6,426,772France: 3,744,575 personsFrance3,744,575Italy: 3,419,404 personsItaly3,419,404Spain: 3,138,742 personsSpain3,138,742Poland: 2,422,612 personsPoland2,422,612Netherlands: 1,622,578 personsNetherlands1,622,578Romania: 991,004 personsRomania991,004Portugal: 825,348 personsPortugal825,348Greece: 815,167 personsGreece815,167Czechia: 746,591 personsCzechia746,591Austria: 720,609 personsAustria720,609Sweden: 676,499 personsSweden676,499Hungary: 610,986 personsHungary610,986Belgium: 606,822 personsBelgium606,822Bulgaria: 510,582 personsBulgaria510,582Denmark: 489,745 personsDenmark489,745Ireland: 413,595 personsIreland413,595Slovakia: 329,618 personsSlovakia329,618Finland: 283,823 personsFinland283,823Lithuania: 247,650 personsLithuania247,650Croatia: 246,731 personsCroatia246,731Latvia: 144,543 personsLatvia144,543Slovenia: 123,930 personsSlovenia123,930Estonia: 101,418 personsEstonia101,418Cyprus: 75,841 personsCyprus75,841Luxembourg: 54,590 personsLuxembourg54,590Malta: 40,784 personsMalta40,784
persons. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics, Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (NACE Rev. 2 section G), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankEU countries2022
persons		Change on 2021
1Germany6,426,772+0.8%
2France3,744,575+2.4%
3Italy3,419,404+0.6%
4Spain3,138,742+1.9%
5Poland2,422,612-0%
6Netherlands1,622,578+1.5%
7Romania991,004-1.5%
8Portugal825,348+3.4%
9Greece815,167+1.8%
10Czechia746,591+0.4%
11Austria720,609+1.6%
12Sweden676,499-2.3%
13Hungary610,986+2.4%
14Belgium606,822-5.7%
15Bulgaria510,582+0.9%
16Denmark489,745+3.6%
17Ireland413,595+8%
18Slovakia329,618+1.4%
19Finland283,823+4.7%
20Lithuania247,650+2%
21Croatia246,731+1.7%
22Latvia144,543-1.7%
23Slovenia123,930+1.8%
24Estonia101,418+3.2%
25Cyprus75,841+3.2%
26Luxembourg54,590+1.6%
27Malta40,784+1.2%

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, Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (NACE Rev. 2 section G), 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, Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (NACE Rev. 2 section G), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act) (EU countries by persons employed in wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles, 2022) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_ovw_act/default/table

MLA 9

Structural business statistics, Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (NACE Rev. 2 section G), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act), EU countries by persons employed in wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles, 2022. 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-trade/eu-countries?period=2022. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Structural business statistics, Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (NACE Rev. 2 section G), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). EU countries by persons employed in wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles, 2022. 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-trade/eu-countries?period=2022.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Structural business statistics, Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (NACE Rev. 2 section G), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act), EU countries by persons employed in wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles, 2022 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_ovw_act/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-trade/eu-countries?period=2022 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_persons_2022,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Structural business statistics, Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (NACE Rev. 2 section G), persons employed, number (sbs\_ovw\_act): EU countries by persons employed in wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles, 2022}},
  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-trade/eu-countries?period=2022. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics, Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (NACE Rev. 2 section G), 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, Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (NACE Rev. 2 section G), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act): EU countries by persons employed in wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles, 2022
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-trade/eu-countries?period=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-trade/eu-countries?period=2022.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics, Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (NACE Rev. 2 section G), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_ovw_act/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank EU countries by persons employed in wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"sbs_persons_employed_trade","level":"country","within":"European Union (27)","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=sbs_persons_employed_trade&level=country&within=European%20Union%20(27)&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

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

Germany, with 6.43 million in 2022, 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 40,784 in 2022.

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

EU countries: more rankings