Data / Rankings / Tourism share of employment / EU countries

EU countries by tourism share of employment

Malta had the highest tourism share of employment of 21 EU countries in 2021, at 15.6%. Sweden had the lowest, at 2.2%. The median was 5.9%. Source: the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

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Highest15.6Malta
Lowest2.2Sweden
Median5.921 EU countries

Map of EU countries, 2021

Austria: 3 %Czechia: 4 %Germany: 3.9 %Denmark: 2.7 %Estonia: 3.3 %Spain: 12 %Finland: 4.6 %Greece: 13.2 %Croatia: 5.9 %Hungary: 8.8 %Ireland: 8.3 %Lithuania: 4.7 %Luxembourg: 7.8 %Latvia: 7.1 %Malta: 15.6 %Netherlands: 4.6 %Portugal: 10.3 %Romania: 5.2 %Sweden: 2.2 %Slovenia: 7.2 %Slovakia: 6.9 %
  • Under 3.9
  • 3.9 to 4.7
  • 4.7 to 7.1
  • 7.1 to 8.8
  • 8.8 and over
  • No data
%, 2021. Hatched areas have no value for this period. Source: OECD, OECD Key tourism economic indicators: tourism employment, percentage of total employment (DSD_TOURISM_KEY@DF_KEY_IND_PC, EMP_SH). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2021

Malta: 15.6 %Malta15.6Greece: 13.2 %Greece13.2Spain: 12 %Spain12Portugal: 10.3 %Portugal10.3Hungary: 8.8 %Hungary8.8Ireland: 8.3 %Ireland8.3Luxembourg: 7.8 %Luxembourg7.8Slovenia: 7.2 %Slovenia7.2Latvia: 7.1 %Latvia7.1Slovakia: 6.9 %Slovakia6.9Croatia: 5.9 %Croatia5.9Romania: 5.2 %Romania5.2Lithuania: 4.7 %Lithuania4.7Finland: 4.6 %Finland4.6Netherlands: 4.6 %Netherlands4.6Czechia: 4 %Czechia4Germany: 3.9 %Germany3.9Estonia: 3.3 %Estonia3.3Austria: 3 %Austria3Denmark: 2.7 %Denmark2.7Sweden: 2.2 %Sweden2.2Malta: 15.6 %Malta15.6Greece: 13.2 %Greece13.2Spain: 12 %Spain12Portugal: 10.3 %Portugal10.3Hungary: 8.8 %Hungary8.8Ireland: 8.3 %Ireland8.3Luxembourg: 7.8 %Luxembourg7.8Slovenia: 7.2 %Slovenia7.2Latvia: 7.1 %Latvia7.1Slovakia: 6.9 %Slovakia6.9Croatia: 5.9 %Croatia5.9Romania: 5.2 %Romania5.2Lithuania: 4.7 %Lithuania4.7Finland: 4.6 %Finland4.6Netherlands: 4.6 %Netherlands4.6Czechia: 4 %Czechia4Germany: 3.9 %Germany3.9Estonia: 3.3 %Estonia3.3Austria: 3 %Austria3Denmark: 2.7 %Denmark2.7Sweden: 2.2 %Sweden2.2
%. Source: OECD, OECD Key tourism economic indicators: tourism employment, percentage of total employment (DSD_TOURISM_KEY@DF_KEY_IND_PC, EMP_SH). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankEU countries2021 (%)Change on 2020
1Malta15.6-1 pts
2Greece13.2-0.9 pts
3Spain12-0.2 pts
4Portugal10.3-0.3 pts
5Hungary8.8-0.2 pts
6Ireland8.3-0.4 pts
7Luxembourg7.8-0.2 pts
8Slovenia7.2+0.2 pts
9Latvia7.1-0.5 pts
10Slovakia6.9-0.2 pts
11Croatia5.90 pts
12Romania5.2-0.9 pts
13Lithuania4.7+0.1 pts
14Finland4.6-0.2 pts
14Netherlands4.6-0.5 pts
16Czechia4-0.1 pts
17Germany3.9-0.9 pts
18Estonia3.3-0.3 pts
19Austria3-0.7 pts
20Denmark2.70 pts
21Sweden2.2-0.2 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

Employment in tourism as a percentage of total employment, as each country reports it to the OECD: for most countries, people employed or jobs in the tourism industries (accommodation, food and beverage serving, passenger transport, travel agencies and others); for some, the employment that serves visitors directly.

The OECD labels the measure direct, but most countries count everyone working in the tourism industries, including work that serves residents, so the share is usually well above tourism_direct_gdp_share (Spain 2023: 13.2% against 6.0%). Definitions differ between countries and break within some (flagged: Colombia 2015, Denmark 2019, Japan 2014), so compare countries with care.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the EU countries are compared on one definition. 3 EU countries with data in other periods have no value for 2021 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

OECD. OECD Key tourism economic indicators: tourism employment, percentage of total employment (DSD_TOURISM_KEY@DF_KEY_IND_PC, EMP_SH). https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_TOURISM_KEY%40DF_KEY_IND_PC&df[ag]=OECD.CFE.TOU. Accessed 2026-10-12. Data reuse terms and downstream attribution: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html

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

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2026). OECD Key tourism economic indicators: tourism employment, percentage of total employment (DSD_TOURISM_KEY@DF_KEY_IND_PC, EMP_SH) (EU countries by tourism share of employment, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_TOURISM_KEY%40DF_KEY_IND_PC&df[ag]=OECD.CFE.TOU

MLA 9

OECD Key tourism economic indicators: tourism employment, percentage of total employment (DSD_TOURISM_KEY@DF_KEY_IND_PC, EMP_SH), EU countries by tourism share of employment, 2021. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 12 Oct. 2026, https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_TOURISM_KEY%40DF_KEY_IND_PC&df[ag]=OECD.CFE.TOU. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/tourism-share-of-employment/eu-countries?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 2026. OECD Key tourism economic indicators: tourism employment, percentage of total employment (DSD_TOURISM_KEY@DF_KEY_IND_PC, EMP_SH). EU countries by tourism share of employment, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_TOURISM_KEY%40DF_KEY_IND_PC&df[ag]=OECD.CFE.TOU. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/tourism-share-of-employment/eu-countries?period=2021.

Harvard

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2026) OECD Key tourism economic indicators: tourism employment, percentage of total employment (DSD_TOURISM_KEY@DF_KEY_IND_PC, EMP_SH), EU countries by tourism share of employment, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_TOURISM_KEY%40DF_KEY_IND_PC&df[ag]=OECD.CFE.TOU, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/tourism-share-of-employment/eu-countries?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{organisation_eu_countries_by_tourism_2021,
  author = {{Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development}},
  title = {{OECD Key tourism economic indicators: tourism employment, percentage of total employment (DSD\_TOURISM\_KEY@DF\_KEY\_IND\_PC, EMP\_SH): EU countries by tourism share of employment, 2021}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_TOURISM_KEY%40DF_KEY_IND_PC&df[ag]=OECD.CFE.TOU},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/tourism-share-of-employment/eu-countries?period=2021. Publisher attribution: OECD. OECD Key tourism economic indicators: tourism employment, percentage of total employment (DSD\_TOURISM\_KEY@DF\_KEY\_IND\_PC, EMP\_SH). https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ\&df[id]=DSD\_TOURISM\_KEY\%40DF\_KEY\_IND\_PC\&df[ag]=OECD.CFE.TOU. Accessed 2026-10-12. Data reuse terms and downstream attribution: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
TI  - OECD Key tourism economic indicators: tourism employment, percentage of total employment (DSD_TOURISM_KEY@DF_KEY_IND_PC, EMP_SH): EU countries by tourism share of employment, 2021
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/12
PB  - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_TOURISM_KEY%40DF_KEY_IND_PC&df[ag]=OECD.CFE.TOU
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/tourism-share-of-employment/eu-countries?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/tourism-share-of-employment/eu-countries?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: OECD. OECD Key tourism economic indicators: tourism employment, percentage of total employment (DSD_TOURISM_KEY@DF_KEY_IND_PC, EMP_SH). https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_TOURISM_KEY%40DF_KEY_IND_PC&df[ag]=OECD.CFE.TOU. Accessed 2026-10-12. Data reuse terms and downstream attribution: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html.
ER  -
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Questions

Which EU country has the highest tourism share of employment?

Malta, with 15.6% in 2021, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Which EU country has the lowest tourism share of employment?

Sweden, with 2.2% in 2021.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD Key tourism economic indicators: tourism employment, percentage of total employment (DSD_TOURISM_KEY@DF_KEY_IND_PC, EMP_SH). Retrieved 2026-10-12. 3 EU countries have no value for 2021 and are not ranked.

Tourism share of employment: other rankings

EU countries: more rankings