OREANDA-NEWS. In 2014, according to Eurostat estimations, 6 million persons were employed in the cultural field in the European Union (EU), or slightly less than 3 % of the total number of persons employed. 6 out of 10 persons in cultural employment had tertiary education.

Of the almost 2 million artists and writers in the EU, nearly half (49%) were self-employed, a share much higher than that reported for total employment (15%).

Today, Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, issues a publication on culture statistics. Its seven chapters provide information on the situation and main trends in employment, business, international trade, participation and consumption patterns in the field of culture. This News Release focuses on one domain presented in the publication: cultural employment.

Highest share of cultural employment in Luxembourg, lowest in Romania

At Member State level, the highest shares of cultural employment were observed in Luxembourg (5.2%) and Sweden (4.1%), followed by Finland and the Netherlands (3.9% each) as well as Denmark (3.8%). At the opposite end of the scale, the lowest share was observed in Romania (1.1%), followed by Slovakia (2.0%), Bulgaria (2.1%), Portugal (2.2%), Greece (2.3%) and Cyprus (2.4%).

Share of women in cultural employment generally higher than in total employment

On average in the EU, women represented just below half (47%) of persons employed in the cultural field, just above the share of women in total employment. In most Member States the share of women in cultural employment was higher than the share of women in total employment, in particular in the Baltic Member States Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, followed by Bulgaria, Poland, Croatia and Romania. In seven Member States there was a lower share of women in cultural employment than in total employment: Austria, the United Kingdom, Cyprus, Malta, France, Spain and the Netherlands.