Cultural employment in the area of culture in the European Union and EFTA countries in 2024
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In 2024, 8.3 million people were employed in the field of culture, including 7.9 million people in EU countries. Cultural employees in the EU were distinguished by a high level of education (62.3% with tertiary education), high share of self-employment (31.7%) and a lower share of working full-time (75.5%) and having a permanent job (81.9%) compared to the total employment.
The number of cultural employees in the European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries in 2024 amounted to 8.3 million people (an increase of 1.8% compared to 2023). In the EU alone, the number of employees in the field of culture was 7.9 million people, which accounted for 3.8% of the total number of people employed in EU countries. Compared to 2023, the number of employees in the field of culture increased in 17 out of the 30 countries analysed, with Romania recording the highest increase (by 10.4%) and Iceland – the highest decline (by 9.6%). A decrease was also recorded in the case of Poland (by 4.1%). In Poland, 0.6 million people were working in the field of culture.
Based on Eurostat study based on the generalised results of the EU-LFS 2024 survey conducted among people aged 15-89 years. The basis for the data for Polish is the "Labour Force Survey" conducted by the Statistics Poland, which is part of the European Labour Force Survey, thanks to which the data obtained can be compared with the situation in other European countries. The results presented in the Eurostat study refer to EU countries, although some of the data also include EFTA countries. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Culture_statistics_-_cultural_employment; Access date 18.08.2025.
