Eurostat reports on multinational enterprise groups and employment in Europe

According to data released by Eurostat on Wednesday, Cyprus maintains one of the lowest rates of employment in multinational enterprises in Europe at 18%, matching Iceland, while Greece records the lowest rate at 14%. Across the EU and EFTA, 149,678 multinational enterprise groups were active in 2024, employing 51.6 million people, which accounts for 30% of total business employment. Of these groups, 96,201 are controlled by EU member states and 14,098 by EFTA nations, while 39,379 are controlled by third countries. Germany leads in controlling multinational groups with 15,342 entities, followed by the Netherlands with 13,805 and Switzerland with 10,824. Cyprus currently hosts 3,390 multinational groups, showing a slight recovery following a period of decline. The United Kingdom controls the largest number of groups from outside the EU/EFTA region with 14,118, followed by the United States with 8,003 and China and Hong Kong with 2,135. Countries such as Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, and Sweden lead in multinational employment proportions. The report highlights a significant structural gap in multinational corporate presence and labor impact across European nations.