This year, wildfires have severely damaged a number of European nations. In terms of the area burned, 2026 was already the worst year in a number of countries by early August. The EU wants to improve its ability to respond to increasingly severe wildfire seasons.
Along with firefighting aircraft and helicopters, professional firefighters are at the centre of that reaction. However, which European nations employ the greatest proportion of professional firefighters?
According to Eurostat, there were 372,400 professional firemen in the EU in 2025. This amounts to 0.18% of all jobs in the EU. According to Eurostat, firefighters “prevent, fight and extinguish fires and assist in other emergencies, protect life and property and conduct rescue efforts.” Volunteer firefighters do not fall under this category, although forest firefighters do.
There are typically more professional firefighters in nations with the biggest populations and economies. With 57,700, Germany had the most professional firefighters as of 2025. Italy came in third place with 43,500, followed by France with 47,700.
With 40,000 professional firefighters, Poland ranked fourth, closely followed by Spain with 38,500. The Big Four economies of the EU—Germany, France, Italy, and Spain—had about 187,400 professional firefighters. They made up 50.3% of the EU as a whole.
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