EU cultural sector in 2025: 8.9 million people employed

In 2025, the EU’s cultural sector employed 8.9 million people, or 4.3% of the total employment.
Nearly half of those employed in culture (48.5%) were aged 30 to 49. The gender split was broadly even, with women making up 49.6% and men 50.4%.

The cultural workforce had, on average, higher level of educational attainment than the total workforce. Of all the people employed in culture, only 6.7% had up to lower secondary education; 31.3% had upper secondary education and post-secondary non-tertiary education; and the majority (61.9%) had tertiary education.

Source datasets: cult_emp_age, cult_emp_sex, cult_emp_edu

In 17 of the 27 EU countries, cultural employment was between 4% and 5% of the total employment. The highest shares of people employed in culture were in the Netherlands (5.7%), Estonia (5.3%) and Malta (5.1%). In contrast, the lowest shares were in Romania (1.8%), Slovakia (3.3%) and Ireland (3.4%).

Source dataset: cult_emp_sex

Today, Eurostat released the new edition of the Guide to Eurostat culture statistics. The guide offers a detailed overview of the methodology used to compile the harmonised data collections on cultural employment, enterprises, international trade in cultural goods and services, cultural participation and household expenditure on culture. It is a valuable resource for those seeking to analyse and compare cultural data.