European Union member states employed 372,400 professional firefighters in 2025, down from 390,600 recorded in 2024.
The 2025 workforce accounted for 0.18% of overall employment across the 27-nation bloc, Eurostat stated on Monday.
Fire services relied heavily on younger personnel, with 74.7% of all working firefighters under the age of 50, compared to a 64.4% average across general employment.
Greece recorded the highest share of firefighters in total employment at 0.47% among member states, followed by Croatia at 0.43% and Portugal at 0.33%.
The Netherlands posted the lowest proportion at 0.05%, while Austria and Sweden reported shares of 0.07% and 0.10%, respectively.
