THE CLEANING

INDUSTRY IN EUROPE
EFCI’S REPORT 2020
 Content
5 Foreword
6 Introduction & Methodology
7 Main Indicators 2015 - 2018
8 Turnover
9 Companies
10 Employees
12 Turnover per company and per employee
Copyright (c) 2020 EFCI, hkp//Remunet. All rights reserved. 13 Appendixes
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informational purposes only.

The EFCI (www.efci.eu) is an international non-profit association and is the recognised Social Partner by
the European Commission for the Industrial Cleaning Sector in Europe. It brings together associations and
federations representing the industry at national level. The EFCI is an active member of the European Business
Services Alliance (EBSA), the collective voice of the European Business Services Organisations, and an observer
member of the European Platform for tackling undeclared work. The EFCI is inscribed in the EU Transparency
Register with the number 79863609229-39.

hkp/// RemuNet brings companies together in “charter” industry peer networks, that exchange information for mutual market insights.
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Human Capital, as well as in (re)designing their organizational structure and people policies. www.hkp.com
 Foreword
Dear EFCI Members and colleagues,
We are happy to present a new edition, in a new format and analysis
depth, of the EFCI annual Survey. Following last year’s publication
of the Trend Report on the evolution of the industry between 1995-
2016, we are now presenting a detailed overview of the most recent
data and trends on the main aspects of our industry across Europe.
The cleaning industry, suffering from invisibility during many years, is
now (sadly, due to the COVID-19 pandemic) receiving well-deserved
recognition. Amidst the uncertainty of our times, it is important to
remember the growth and resilience the industry showed over the
last two decades: with a steady growth over the recent years, the
European cleaning industry now employs 4.1 million people and has
reached an impressive turnover of 120 billion euro. Over the last five
years, the number of people employed in the industry grew by an
impressive 15%.
However, it is still uncertain what the effect of the pandemic on the
industry will be. While some sectors may shrink, others – “those
who help the world go on turning”, in the words of the Commission’s
President von der Leyen – will continue to grow. At the EFCI, we will
continue working to support the cleaning and facility services sector
from an EU perspective, by advocating for our industries’ needs and
promoting them before all our stakeholders and fellow citizens.
Hoping that this Report is useful for our members and stakeholders,
warm regards,

Juan Díez de los Ríos

EFCI President

EFCI’s REPORT 2020 | 5

4 | EFCI’s REPORT 2020
 Introduction & Methodology Main Indicators 2015 - 2018
This Report provides an overview of the most important indicators that describe the characteristics of
the European cleaning industry*. It contains insights based on the most recently available Eurostat data**.
We hope that the analysis contributes to a thorough understanding of the trends and characteristics of Turnover growth
the industry.

111.4 120.0
107.0
100.5
95.7
91.4 7.7%
6.5%
4.1%
5.0%
4.7%

0.9%

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Turnover (in billion EUR) in the European Cleaning Industry and annual
increase of turnover (in %).

Number of companies

277 284
257 255
236

8.8% 8.9%

4.9%
* The European Cleaning Industry refers to NACE Rev. 2 N81.2; EU 28, Norway and Switzerland. 2.2%
-0.8%

** Eurostat data as available per May 1, 2020.

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Number of companies (in thousands) in the European Cleaning Industry and

annual increase of number of companies (in %).

Number of employees

4.11

3.96
3.90

3.70 3.71 4.9% 3.8%

3.58
3.3% 1.6%

0.4%
1.2%

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Number of people employed (in millions) in the European Cleaning Industry

and annual increase of number of people employed (in %).

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6 | EFCI’s REPORT 2020
 Turnover
The overall turnover in the European Cleaning Industry grew by 8% to an astonishing 120 billion euro in
2018. France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom are the countries with the largest market
share in Europe and are accountable for 70% of the overall turnover, followed by Belgium, the Netherlands
and Sweden with each having over 4 billion euro turnover annually. Less than a quarter of the turnover in
Europe is generated in other countries.
Across all countries, the industry grew on average by 7%, but some countries showed even stronger
growth with more than 4 billion euro increase in the UK. .
Turnover per country (in %) Turnover per country (in billion EUR)
Companies
The European Cleaning Industry also grew in number of companies, reaching a total of 283,506.
The increase is largely due to a growth in the number of companies in Germany, Italy and the United
Kingdom. In the UK, the number of companies grew by more than 1,500, which were mostly small
enterprises with less than 10 employees. Germany also noted a strong growth of 1,300 companies, of
which most were self-employed. The number of companies decreased significantly in Belgium (-909) and
Greece (-757).
The 5 largest European countries in terms of turnover (totalling 70%) also have the highest number of
companies (totalling 60%).

Number of companies (in %) Number of companies per country

+1.2 +1
+1,359

UK 14%
+4.19 +667

-28
UK 7%
DE 21% +0.45
+0.60
+1,517
25.63 44,610
+0.66 DE 14% 39,854
34,089
FR 14% 16.47 14.49 30,595
16.20
21,107
10.67
FR 16%
ES 9%
IT 12% DE FR ES UK IT DE FR ES UK IT
ES11%
2018 Aboslute increase in turnover, compared to 2017 IT 12% Aboslute increase in number of companies, compared to last year 2017

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for over half of the total turnover in large countries
such as Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom. However, in France and Spain large enterprises do make
up for the majority of revenues.
Among the SMEs, companies with between 50 and 249 employees account, on average, for 20% of the
total turnover. Again, the share of these companies in the market is lower in France and Spain.
Two thirds of the companies in the cleaning industry in Germany, France and Spain employ 2 to 9 employees
whereas the share of these small enterprises is even above three quarters in Italy and the UK. Companies
with 10 to 19 employees are more present in France and Spain, representing 16% to 17% of all companies
compared to 12% to 13% in the other largest countries.

Turnover per workforce size (in %) Turnover per workforce size (in billion EUR) Companies per workforce size (in %) Companies per workforce size (in thousands)

2% 1% 1% 1% 1%
6% 4% 4% 5%
8%
7% 8% 1%
11% 10%
10%
12% 12% 3
46% 42% 17%
48% 12% 16% 3
56% 11
62%
4

1
25% 1 1
19% 1
23% 6 8 6 1 2
76% 73% 2 2
15% 6
68% 67% 68%
3
24% 22
10% 9% 6
10% 10% 2
3 0
9% 8% 2 2 1
6% 8% 1 1 13 13
8% 10
7% 1 1 1 1
1 1 1
14% 15% 14% 3 1 5
11% 8% 1
2 2 2
1
DE FR ES UK IT DE FR ES UK IT DE FR ES UK IT DE FR ES UK IT

2-9 employees 10-19 employees 20-49 employees 50-249 employees >250 employees 2-9 employees 10-19 employees 20-49 employees 50-249 employees >250 employees

EFCI’s REPORT 2020 | 9

8 | EFCI’s REPORT 2020
 Employees (1/2) Employees (2/2)
The European Cleaning Industry employs 4.1 The European Cleaning industry is characterized by having a large part of their workforce working part-
million people. Compared to last year, an additional time. 3.7 million employees – not being self-employed – are together contributing to 2.3 million full-time
154 thousand people are now employed in the equivalent workers (FTE).
industry.
A low ratio indicates more people working part-time and/or working relatively shorter hours. However,
With over 1.1 million people, the German cleaning large fluctuations are observed among the countries, with Sweden having a ratio of above 90% and
industry employs over a quarter of all workers in Germany only 50%.
the European Cleaning Industry.
The other top 4 countries have employment Turnover per workforce size (in %) Total FTE as a percentage of people employed (in %)
levels ranging from 445 to 517 thousand. All
other European countries account for 23% of all DE FR ES SE NL
employees in the Cleaning Industry. +7,028

Almost all European countries registered an

50% 54%
increase in the number of employees. +91,994
71% 64%

1,111,918 +12,411 92%

n/a
The employment levels in most European +8,809

countries showed a moderate increase between 460,036 509,748 516,783 445,150

UK IT BE LU AT
2% and 5%. The largest increase was recorded
in the United Kingdom (+22%), Portugal (+14%) DE FR ES UK IT
and Poland (+14%). Lithuania showed the largest 56% 58%
2018 Aboslute increase in number of persons employed, compared to 2017 67%
decrease(-7%), followed by Switzerland (-6%). 81%
72%

Variation in number of persons employed in the cleaning industry In France and Spain the largest share of employees work in large companies with more than 250 employees,
whereas in Italy this is below 50%.

increase of more than 5% Medium-sized companies with 50 to 249 employees make up for about a quarter of the workforce in Italy
increase between 2% and 5% and Germany.
increase between 0% and 2%
decrease
The share of employees working in small companies with less than 50 employees is quite constant in all
2018 data unavailable
five countries; only Italy has a slightly larger share with 30% of workers employed in this category.

Employees per company size (in %) Employees per company size (in thousands)

585

47%
53% 62% 61% 57%

276
297
197
23% 262 239
25% 18%
16% 14%
10% 101 98
10% 9% 67
9% 9% 76
8% 66
6% 52 43
7% 48 37
5% 6% 39 32
12% 24 34 27
8% 8% 8% 10% 83
33 39 41 52

DE FR ES UK IT DE FR ES UK IT

2-9 employees 10-19 employees 20-49 employees 50-249 employees >250 employees

EFCI’s REPORT 2020 | 11

10 | EFCI’s REPORT 2020
 Turnover per company and per employee
The turnover per company provides an indication of the degree of concentration in the industry. Starting
at 387 thousand euro in 2013, the turnover per company reached 393 thousand euro in 2017.
Smaller countries such as Austria, Luxembourg and Switzerland concentrate their Cleaning Industry
turnover amongst fewer companies resulting in a high turnover per company. In contrast, larger countries
such as Spain, Italy and France, show lower figures ranging from 327 thousand to 407 thousand euro.

Turnover per company in selected countries (in thousand EUR)

Luxembourg 1,611
Switzerland 1,348
Austria 874
Germany 613
United Kingdom 582
Italy 407
Netherlands 372
Sweden 362
France 353
Spain 327 = € 100,000

The average turnover per employee reached almost The productivity indicators in the United Kingdom,

Appendixes
30 thousand euro, corresponding to a productivity France and Italy lie above the European average of
increase of almost 15% since 2013. 30 thousand, showing that the companies there
manage to generate more turnover per employee
The turnover per employee exceeds 50 thousand
despite the competitive landscape.
euro in Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Iceland,
Norway and Sweden.
The lowest numbers are registered in Bulgaria Turnover per employee (in thousand EUR)
and Portugal, where the turnover per employee is
29.2 23.1
below 10 thousand euro.

Turnover per employee (in thousand EUR)

All Countries Germany

29.2
35.2 32.5

28.1

27.5
27.1

4.7%

3.7%
25.8
25.5 France Italy

2.5%
20.9 31.9
1.4% 1.5%

-0.3%

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Spain United Kingdom

12 | EFCI’s REPORT 2020

 Turnover, number of companies and number of Number of FTE employed as a percentage of number of
employees per country employees per country
The below graphs contain detailed statistics per country for each of the variables from pages 8 to 10 of The below graph contains detailed statistics per country for the variable from page 11 of this report:
this report: Turnover, number of companies and number of employees. Number of FTE employed as a percentage of number of employees.

Number of companies Number of employees Number of FTE employed as a percentage

Turnover per country per country per country of number of employees per country

2,891 3,098 70
AT 3,092 AT 3,306
AT 71
AT 72%
4,389 7,451 128
BE 4,117 BE 6,542
BE 129
BE 58%
83 1,296 11 73%
BG 96 BG 1,338
BG 11
BG

2,890 2,100 60 CY 98%

CH 2,883 CH 2,144
CH 56

CY 45 587 CY 2 CZ 92%
48 CY 637 3
1,144 6,583 35 DE 50%
CZ 1,316 CZ 6,674
CZ 37
24,435 38,495 1,105 DK 62%
DE 25,634 DE DE 1,112
39,854
2,471 5,524 47 EE 77%
DK 2,554 DK DK 48
5,582
9
ES 64%
EE 178 594 EE
178 EE 670 9
10,007 FI 86%
30,623 497
ES 10,669 ES ES 510
30,595
FR 71%
2,354 4,194 44
FI 2,455 FI FI 44
4,224
15,754
GR 74%
44,609 460
FR 16,201 FR FR 460
44,610 HR 84%
518 4,948 32
GR 514 GR GR 31
4,191 HU 76%
147 1,072 10
HR 170 HR HR 10
1,117 IE 72%
808 6,986 38
HU 947 HU HU 40 IT 56%
7,658
939 2,203 29
IE 939 IE IE 29 LT 79%
2,366
13,888 33,422
436
IT 14,487 IT IT 445 LU 81%
34,089
263 1,060 17
LT 263 LT LT 16 LV 77%
1,232
335 11
LU 356 LU 196 LU 12
NL 54%
208
121 10
LV 127 LV 2,317 LV 10
NO 73%
2,243
MT 79 66 3 84%
84 MT MT 5
PL
66
15,204
NL 5,817 153 PT 71%
6,309 NL 15,623 NL 153

NO 1,870 4,488 NO 34 RO 97%

1,996 NO 4,528 35
1,928 16,975 95 SE 92%
PL 1,965 PL 17,822
PL 108
658 68 SK 95%
PT 736 PT 3,694 PT 78
4,122
384 32 UK 67%
RO 455 RO 2,956 RO 33
3,241
3,998 10,909 78
SE 4,179 SE 11,053 SE 78
Employees in full time equivalent units (excl. self-employed) as a
SI 211 8
232 SI 2,109 SI 9 percentage of number of employees (excl. self-employed) in the respective
2,182
476 14 country.
SK 505 SK 3,976 SK 15
12,287 4,482
19,590 425
UK 16,473 UK 21,107 UK 517

Turnover in current period, compared to the Number of companies in current period, Number of people employed (incl. self-employed)
previous period in the respective country (in compared to the the previous period in the in current period, compared to the previous
thousand EUR). respective country. period in the respective country (in thousands).

EFCI’s REPORT 2020 | 15

14 | EFCI’s REPORT 2020
 Turnover per company and per employee and country
The below graphs contain detailed statistics per country for the variables from page 12 of this report:
Turnover per company and turnover per employee.

Turnover per company per country Turnover per employee per country

AT 874 AT 44

BE 671 BE 32

BG 62 BG 9

CH 1,348 CH 51

CY 70 CY 18

CZ 171 CZ 36

DE 613 DE 23

DK 443 DK 54

EE 266 EE 19

ES 327 ES 21

FI 557 FI 55

FR 353 FR 35

GR 124 GR 17

HR 131 HR 17

HU 105 HU 24

IE 397 IE 32

IT 407 IT 33

LT 213 LT 17

LU 1,611 LU 30

LV 54 LV 13

MT 1,192 MT 17

NL 372 NL 41

NO 413 NO 57

PL 108 PL 18

PT 16O PT 9

RO 118 RO 14

SE 362 SE 53

SI 97 SI 27

SK 106 SK 35

UK 582 UK 32

Total turnover divided by the total number of companies in the respective Total turnover divided by the total number of people employed (incl. self-
country (in thousand EUR). employed) in the respective country (in thousand EUR).

EFCI’s REPORT 2020 | 17

16 | EFCI’s REPORT 2020
Who is the EFCI?
The EFCI is the voice of the European cleaning and facility services industry. The
Federation is the recognized employer’s organization and European Social Partner at
industrial sectoral level.

283.000 4people
million 120.000
companies employed billion turnover

EFCI’s core objectives are:

• To communicate the industry’s needs and priorities to the policy makers at
European level and in the European Social Dialogue.
• To promote the industry and enhance the sector’s competitiveness and image.
• To foster the exchange of information among EFCI’s members and to facilitate
capacity building.
• To organize and implement actions and projects at European level.

EFCI - European Cleaning and Facility Services Industry

T. +32 2 225 83 30 | secretariat@efci.eu
Rue Belliard, 205. 1040 Brussels
www.efci.eu
@_EFCI_