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In Europe, how many people work in the insurance industry? How many people work for the top 1000 companies, of any industry, in Europe? How many people work for the top 250 law firms in Europe?
Hi, thanks for asking about the employment sizes in various European sectors. After a ton of digging, I found that there are 5,976,000 people employed in Europe’s insurance industry, 1,317,431 employees in Europe’s top 1,000 companies, and 37,039 employees in Europe’s top 250 law firms. I’ve filled out this information in row 4 of columns D, E, and F of the attached spreadsheet. The most useful sources I found to answer your question are Eurostat, Chambers and Partners, and the London Stock Exchange Group. Below, you will find a more extensive account of my findings as well as an in-depth explanation of how I came to these conclusions.
EUROPE INSURANCE INDUSTRY
According to Eurostat’s Structural Business Statistics, there is a total of 11.7 million people working in the professional, scientific, and technical activities sector. The insurance industry, however, is just a fraction of this area. In another data set published by Eurostat, they revealed that the financial and insurance sector in Europe is classified into four categories namely credit institutions, life insurance, non-life insurance, and autonomous pension funding. At present, this industry contributes €588.4 billion to the European economy and employs a total of 5,976,000 individuals.
Total employment for each sub-sector is as follows:
-- Total: 5,976,000
TOP 1000 COMPANIES IN EUROPE
In order to determine the total number of people employed in Europe’s top 1,000 companies, I first look for a list of the 1,000 leading firms in Europe. Because we're also looking to find out the employment size in this sector, my research focused on a list that also contains data regarding each company’s size. Through my research, I’ve found that London Stock Exchange Group has the most comprehensive database of Europe’s top 1,000 companies. Regrettably, their directory only shows information regarding each company’s sector, country, and revenue. As such, I’ve taken a cue from Ryan Born’s method of calculating a company’s revenue using a company’s employment size. I’ve transformed his formula and got the following:
Number of Employees = Annual Revenue / Average Salary x 2.5
Data from Reinis Fischer website suggests that the average salary in Europe is €1,509 per month or €18,103 per year. Using this figure, the formula above, and the revenue data published by the London Stock Exchange Group for each of the top 1,000 European companies, I was able to estimate the total number of employees for each company included in the list. I’ve tallied this data and got a total of 1,317,431.
TOP 250 LAW FIRMS IN EUROPE
In searching for the leading law firms in Europe, I found that The Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners have the most comprehensive data related to this subject. After thoroughly assessing both of these sources, however, it seems that their data is classified per country and per practice only. Because of this, I built a list from scratch using their data and arranged the companies based on each firm’s number of high standing practice areas. I’ve calculated the number of employees for the top 250 firms and got a total of 37,039.
In summary, my research has found that there are 5,976,000 people employed in Europe’s insurance industry, 1,317,431 employees in Europe’s top 1,000 companies, and 37,039 employees in Europe’s top 250 law firms. I’ve filled out this information in row 4 of columns D, E, and F of the attached spreadsheet.
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