In 2021, 6.0 million people aged 15-64 years old in the EU worked in the transport sector (3.1% of total employment in the EU). Of these, the vast majority were male (82.9% versus 17.1% female). Nine in every ten people (89.6%) employed in transport worked in land transport (such as road or rail), while 5.7% worked in air transport and 4.7% in water transport (inland waterways or maritime). 

Source dataset:  Eurostat ad-hoc extraction

Among the EU countries, the largest number of people employed in the transport sector in 2021 were in France (842 thousand, 13.9% of the EU total), Poland (792 thousand, 13.1%), Germany (689 thousand, 11.4%), Spain and Italy (627 thousand and 626 thousand, respectively; each 10.4%). The smallest number of employed people were in Cyprus and Malta (5 and 6 thousand, respectively; each 0.1%).

Source dataset:  Eurostat ad-hoc extraction

When it came to employment in the transport sector by sex, the highest shares of females were recorded in Malta (25.2%), Cyprus (24.6%) and Germany (24.4%). At the other end of the scale, the lowest shares were recorded in Romania (9.7%), Croatia (11.5%) and Bulgaria (12.1%). 

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Key figures on European transport provides an overview of the wide range of data on transport offered on Eurostat’s website. It is a publication that offers intuitive visualisations, innovative data presentations and concise text on the movement of people and goods (land, water and air transport modes), transport safety, and how transport factors into the environment and use of energy. It also looks at a range of economic indicators (employment, prices, expenditure and investment).