EU relies on over 360 000 professional firefighters

In 2023, there were 362 400 professional firefighters in the EU, representing 0.18% of total EU employment. Compared with 2022, the number of firefighters increased by 3 200.

Among the 21 EU countries with available data, the highest shares of firefighters in total employment were registered in Croatia (0.49%), followed by Estonia and Greece (both 0.39%). The lowest shares were registered in the Netherlands (0.05%), Finland, Slovenia and Sweden (both 0.13%).

At the EU level, firefighters aged 30 to 49 made up 61% of all firefighters. Among them, the largest subgroups were those aged 40 to 44 (65 600 firefighters), followed by those aged 35 to 39 (59 100 firefighters).

Source dataset: Labour Force Survey extraction

EU governments spent €37.8 billion on fire-protection services in 2022

In 2022, general government expenditure on 'fire-protection services' in the 27 EU countries amounted to €37.8 billion, reflecting a 7.8% increase from 2021 (€35.1 billion).

The share of general government total expenditure in the EU dedicated to fire-protection services was 0.5%. Overall, government expenditure on fire-protection services has remained stable at 0.5% of total expenditure since 2016.

Source dataset: gov_10a_exp

In 2022, Denmark reported the lowest share of expenditure on fire-protection services, at 0.1% of general government total expenditure, followed by Malta, Slovenia, Portugal and Austria with 0.3% each.

In contrast, Romania had the highest share of expenditure on fire-protection services at 0.7% of total expenditure, followed by Greece, Germany, Lithuania, Estonia and Czechia with 0.6% each.