EU countries by persons employed in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation

Germany had the highest persons employed in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation of 27 EU countries in 2021, at 290,491. Luxembourg had the lowest, at 1,505. The median was 24,181 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 1.56 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest290,491Germany

Lowest1,505Luxembourg

Median24,18127 EU countries

European Union (27)1,561,172History

Map of EU countries, 2021

Under 11K
11K to 18K
18K to 31K
31K to 81K
81K and over

persons, 2021. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics, Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev. 2 section E), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2021

persons. Source: Eurostat, Structural business statistics, Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev. 2 section E), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2021 persons	Change on 2020
1	Germany Series break	290,491	-6.4%
2	Italy Series break	217,120	+0.6%
3	France Series break	211,428	-1%
4	Spain Series break	182,619	-1.8%
5	Poland Series break	155,128	+1.2%
6	Romania Series break	87,550	+0.8%
7	Czechia Series break	56,029	+2.6%
8	Hungary Series break	46,069	-4%
9	Portugal Series break	37,165	+2.4%
10	Croatia Series break	31,005	-1.9%
11	Bulgaria Series break	30,990	-4.1%
12	Netherlands Series break	30,468	-16.7%
13	Belgium Series break	25,530	+1.8%
14	Sweden Series break	24,181	+5.9%
15	Austria Series break	22,564	+3.7%
16	Slovakia Series break	21,911	+1.7%
17	Greece Series break	15,359	+4.6%
18	Denmark Series break	12,593	+8.3%
19	Lithuania Series break	12,570	-1.8%
20	Finland Series break	12,199	n/a
21	Ireland Series break	10,964	+2.8%
22	Slovenia Series break	10,700	-0.4%
23	Latvia Series break	7,196	-7%
24	Estonia Series break	3,880	+5.2%
25	Cyprus Series break	2,105	+9.4%
26	Malta Series break	1,853	n/a
27	Luxembourg Series break	1,505	+2.7%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of persons who work in enterprises of water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev. 2 section E): 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, Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev. 2 section E), 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, Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev. 2 section E), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act) (EU countries by persons employed in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation, 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, Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev. 2 section E), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act), EU countries by persons employed in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation, 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-water-waste/eu-countries?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Structural business statistics, Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev. 2 section E), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). EU countries by persons employed in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation, 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-water-waste/eu-countries?period=2021.

Harvard

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

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_persons_2021,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Structural business statistics, Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev. 2 section E), persons employed, number (sbs\_ovw\_act): EU countries by persons employed in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation, 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-water-waste/eu-countries?period=2021. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics, Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev. 2 section E), 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, Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev. 2 section E), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act): EU countries by persons employed in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation, 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-water-waste/eu-countries?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-water-waste/eu-countries?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Structural business statistics, Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev. 2 section E), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_ovw_act/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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rank_places {"indicator":"sbs_persons_employed_water_waste","level":"country","within":"European Union (27)","limit":10}
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Questions

Which EU country has the highest persons employed in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation?

Germany, with 290,491 in 2021, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest persons employed in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation?

Luxembourg, with 1,505 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, Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (NACE Rev. 2 section E), persons employed, number (sbs_ovw_act). Retrieved 2026-10-12.