Health and social work: 7.4% of all EU business in 2021

In 2021, the number of businesses in the EU’s health and social work sector amounted to 2.3 million, representing 7.4% of all the enterprises active in the EU’s business economy. The health and social work sectors include enterprises in Section Q of the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community (NACE). 

Following the entry into force of the European Business Statistics (EBS) Regulation, Eurostat has extended the service coverage for structural business statistics (SBS) and is publishing, for the first time, SBS data on businesses in the health and social work sector.

The health and social work sector employed 13.1 million people in 2021, generated €579.5 billion in value added and accumulated a net turnover of €887.1 billion. 

Source dataset: sbs_ovw_act

The contribution of the health and social work sector to the value added of the business economy varied across countries. On average, it was 6.2% in the EU. At the higher end of the scale, it stood at 9.7% in Germany, 8.8% in the Netherlands, and 8.3% in Belgium. Hungary (1.5%), Croatia (1.6%), and Ireland (1.8%) were at the lower end of the scale.

In terms of employment, the sector's contribution to the business economy stood at an average of 8.4% in the EU. The Netherlands (18.8%), Germany (14.7%), and Belgium (14.3%) were at the higher end of the scale. Meanwhile, Romania (2.1%), Croatia (2.3%), and Hungary (2.5%) stood at the lower end.