The only service sector with fewer people in work
In the second quarter of 2026, 7,551,450 people worked in information and communication across the European Union, 73,950 fewer than a year earlier. That is a fall of 0.97%, over a year in which EU employment as a whole grew by 1,021,430, or 0.46%. The figures are Eurostat’s national accounts, published on 6 October 2026.
Of the seven service sectors in Eurostat’s ten-industry breakdown, it is the only one with fewer people in work than a year earlier. Public administration, education and health added 543,560, trade, transport and hospitality 462,770, and professional and support services 221,440. Outside services, agriculture lost 258,470 and industry 240,720, with manufacturing alone down 291,850.
The sector is still much larger than before the pandemic: 1,241,970 more people work in it than at the end of 2019. Its peak came in the first quarter of 2025, at 7,644,680, and it now employs 93,230 fewer. Its share of everyone in work slipped from 3.46% to 3.41% over the year.
| Industry | Q2 2025 | Q2 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 8,305,040 | 8,046,570 | -258,470 |
| Industry | 33,443,900 | 33,203,180 | -240,720 |
| of which manufacturing | 29,953,320 | 29,661,470 | -291,850 |
| Construction | 14,800,010 | 14,903,550 | +103,540 |
| Trade, transport, accommodation and food | 52,982,650 | 53,445,420 | +462,770 |
| Information and communication | 7,625,400 | 7,551,450 | -73,950 |
| Finance and insurance | 5,028,030 | 5,102,810 | +74,780 |
| Real estate | 2,423,510 | 2,459,070 | +35,560 |
| Professional, scientific and support services | 28,664,510 | 28,885,950 | +221,440 |
| Public administration, education and health | 53,787,360 | 54,330,920 | +543,560 |
| Arts, recreation and other services | 13,291,140 | 13,444,060 | +152,920 |
| All industries | 220,351,560 | 221,372,990 | +1,021,430 |
What the count covers
Eurostat counts people in employment, employees and the self-employed, in the industry of the business they work for. A developer employed by a bank counts in finance; an accountant at a telecoms operator counts in information and communication. The sector covers publishing, film and broadcasting, telecommunications, computer programming and information services.
Each quarter is set against the same quarter a year earlier. The figures are seasonally and calendar adjusted, but the quarter-to-quarter path is uneven: the sector added 22,610 people in the last quarter of 2025 before falling again. It is the comparison with the year before that shows a fall three times running.
It is a net change, and a first estimate. 73,950 fewer is the difference between two counts: it says nothing about how many people were hired or left. Eurostat revises these figures as more data arrive.
- THE COUNT: people in employment, employees and the self-employed, from Eurostat’s national accounts, seasonally and calendar adjusted.
- THE SECTOR: the industry of the business, not the job. Information and communication covers publishing, film, video and music, broadcasting, telecommunications, computer programming and information services. A developer employed by a bank counts in finance.
- THE COMPARISON: each quarter against the same quarter a year earlier, as a net change. It does not count hires, departures or lay-offs.
So 73,950 fewer does not say that 73,950 people were laid off, or that technical work is disappearing: it says that in the second quarter of 2026 the businesses of this sector employed 73,950 fewer people than in the second quarter of 2025.
One count, one sector and one comparison, and a reading that forgets any of them says what the source does not.
Three quarters below the year before
The sector has been below its level of a year earlier in each of the last three quarters: by 12,080 at the end of 2025, by 60,760 in the first quarter of 2026 and by 73,950 in the second. Before them, the last quarter it was below the year before was the fourth quarter of 2010.
The fall shows however the count is cut: employees alone are down 56,340, and the euro area’s sector is down 102,950. Eurostat adjusts each aggregate separately, so the euro area figure is not subtracted from the EU one.
Over the same three quarters, EU employment as a whole grew by between 1,021,430 and 1,220,530 on the year. The sector is shrinking while the economy around it is still adding people.
| Quarter | People in work | Change on a year | Whole economy, change on a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q3 2024 | 7,587,060 | +128,870 | +1,647,980 |
| Q4 2024 | 7,636,560 | +156,260 | +1,396,760 |
| Q1 2025 | 7,644,680 | +79,980 | +959,190 |
| Q2 2025 | 7,625,400 | +18,510 | +1,061,220 |
| Q3 2025 | 7,601,870 | +14,810 | +1,134,870 |
| Q4 2025 | 7,624,480 | -12,080 | +1,220,530 |
| Q1 2026 | 7,583,920 | -60,760 | +1,154,180 |
| Q2 2026 | 7,551,450 | -73,950 | +1,021,430 |
What these figures do not say
They do not say why. Nothing here measures artificial intelligence, interest rates, earlier hiring or any company’s decisions, and no cause is assessed.
They do not count lay-offs or hires, and they say nothing about pay, hours, vacancies or applicants. They count a sector, not occupations: technical work in other industries is outside them.
They do not say which member states drove the fall, and none of this is a forecast. The second quarter of 2026 is a first estimate, and it can be revised.
