EU countries by persons employed in transportation and storage

Germany had the highest persons employed in transportation and storage of 27 EU countries in 2021, at 2.29 million. Malta had the lowest, at 14,645. The median was 166,765 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 10.18 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest2,294,052Germany

Lowest14,645Malta

Median166,76527 EU countries

European Union (27)10,182,303History

Map of EU countries, 2021

Under 70K
70K to 150K
150K to 210K
210K to 430K
430K and over

persons, 2021. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics, Transportation and storage (NACE Rev. 2 section H), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2021

persons. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics, Transportation and storage (NACE Rev. 2 section H), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2021 persons	Change on 2020
1	Germany Series break	2,294,052	+3.5%
2	France Series break	1,424,343	-4.6%
3	Italy Series break	1,147,312	+2.1%
4	Spain Series break	906,970	-2.2%
5	Poland Series break	902,754	-4.6%
6	Netherlands Series break	429,468	+0.8%
7	Romania Series break	425,421	+10.9%
8	Czechia Series break	290,488	+1.4%
9	Sweden Series break	272,957	+3.3%
10	Belgium Series break	220,221	+0.6%
11	Austria Series break	213,365	+1.1%
12	Hungary Series break	197,887	-21.7%
13	Portugal Series break	188,481	+1%
14	Lithuania Series break	166,765	+5.6%
15	Greece Series break	166,127	-7.5%
16	Bulgaria Series break	152,321	-9.4%
17	Denmark Series break	142,621	+3.6%
18	Finland Series break	122,119	-10.3%
19	Slovakia Series break	120,222	+4.9%
20	Ireland Series break	105,690	+1.2%
21	Croatia Series break	74,275	-17.6%
22	Latvia Series break	69,040	-1.6%
23	Slovenia Series break	53,858	+0.1%
24	Estonia Series break	39,496	-0.3%
25	Luxembourg Series break	23,027	+1.4%
26	Cyprus Series break	18,378	+5.6%
27	Malta Series break	14,645	+12.9%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of persons who work in enterprises of transportation and storage (NACE Rev. 2 section H): 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, Transportation and storage (NACE Rev. 2 section H), 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, Transportation and storage (NACE Rev. 2 section H), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act) (EU countries by persons employed in transportation and storage, 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, Transportation and storage (NACE Rev. 2 section H), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act), EU countries by persons employed in transportation and storage, 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-transport-storage/eu-countries?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Structural business statistics, Transportation and storage (NACE Rev. 2 section H), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). EU countries by persons employed in transportation and storage, 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-transport-storage/eu-countries?period=2021.

Harvard

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

BibTeX

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

Embed code

<iframe src="https://invokely.ai/embed/rankings/persons-employed-transport-storage/eu-countries?period=2021" width="760" height="500" title="EU countries by persons employed in transportation and storage, 2021, chart from Invokely" loading="lazy" style="border:0;width:100%;max-width:760px" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin"></iframe>

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 transportation and storage using official data, and cite the source.

rank_places {"indicator":"sbs_persons_employed_transport_storage","level":"country","within":"European Union (27)","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=sbs_persons_employed_transport_storage&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 transportation and storage?

Germany, with 2.29 million in 2021, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest persons employed in transportation and storage?

Malta, with 14,645 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, Transportation and storage (NACE Rev. 2 section H), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Retrieved 2026-10-12.