August the 25th, 2026 – Croatia is among the European record holders when it comes to firefighter numbers as the overall number within Europe has fallen.
Poslovni reports that the total number of firefighters across the EU fell from 390,600 in 2024 to 372,400 in 2025, a drop of 18,200 people in a year that was the worst in EU history in terms of burned area.
Croatia is among the European record holders for firefighter numbers, holding one of the highest shares of professional firefighters in employment in the entire EU. Back in 2025, they accounted for 0.43 percent of total employment, making Croatia second among the 22 EU Member States for which data has been made available. This places Croatia right behind Greece (0.47 percent), according to Euronews. The EU average was 0.18 percent. Portugal follows with 0.33 percent, while the lowest shares are recorded by the Netherlands (0.05), Austria (0.07) and Sweden (0.10 percent).
Across the entire EU there were around 372,400 professional firefighters. Germany had the most, 57,700, followed by France with 47,700 and Italy with 43,500. Next come Poland with 40,000 and Spain with 38,500; the four largest EU economies together account for 187,400 firefighters, or 50.3 percent of the total number. The overall figure in the Union fell from 390,600 in 2024 to 372,400 in 2025, a drop of 18,200 people in a single year that was the worst in EU history for burned areas. The European Trade Union Confederation and EPSU call this drop “reckless cuts” and note that Poland lost 9,000 and France lodt 4,100 firefighters.
Croatia doesn’t rank among the leaders in total numbers, but its share of total employment is among the highest. Eurostat data refers to professional firefighters, including forest firefighters, but not volunteer firefighters. The data also doesn’t show precisely how many professional firefighters are specialised specifically in fighting open-air fires.
The data comes at a time when Europe is facing an ever-growing fire risk. According to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) by the 13th of August, the figure had risen to 568,415 hectares from 1,647 fires. For comparison, 2025 was the most destructive season ever recorded in the EU, with 1,079,538 hectares burned in 25 of the 27 EU Member States.
For 2026 the EU has secured a fleet of 22 firefighting aircraft and five helicopters, and in the event of major fires member states can request additional firefighters and equipment through the European Civil Protection Mechanism. In addition, a record 777 firefighters from 14 European countries have been pre-positioned in Cyprus, Greece, Italy, France, Spain and Portugal. Croatia contributes two medium amphibious aircraft to the European fleet, and in 2026 the Commission is also opening a new regional firefighting base in Cyprus with capacity for six aircraft.
