Last updated: 17 October 2026 How many Europeans trade shares or funds online, and where? Eurostat’s household ICT survey asks people whether they bought or sold financial assets over the internet. Here are the results for 2020 to 2025, country by country.
8.13% of people aged 16 to 74 in the EU bought or sold shares, bonds, fund units or other financial assets online in the three months before Eurostat’s 2025 survey, up from 6.35% in 2024 and 4.38% in 2020.
The Nordics lead by a wide margin. Sweden is highest at 28.39%, then Norway (27.83%), Finland (24.90%) and Denmark (20.76%). The Netherlands is at 17.23% and Germany at 13.00%.
Online investing is still rare in much of eastern and southern Europe. Romania is lowest at 0.32%, Bulgaria 0.72%, Greece 1.17% and Poland 1.57%. France is at 4.89%.
Czechia, home of FTMO, is at 3.96%, under half the EU average though up from 1.51% in 2020. Prop firm customers are spread worldwide, so a country’s retail investing rate says little about any one firm.
Online share trading by country, 2025
| Rank | Country | 2025 | 2020 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sweden | 28.39% | 21.31% | 23.55% |
| 2 | Norway (non-EU) | 27.83% | 16.48% | 24.67% |
| 3 | Finland | 24.90% | 16.58% | 20.44% |
| 4 | Denmark | 20.76% | 10.11% | 16.83% |
| 5 | Netherlands | 17.23% | 8.81% | 14.37% |
| 6 | Switzerland (non-EU) | 15.15% | — | — |
| 7 | Germany | 13.00% | 7.75% | 9.83% |
| 8 | Luxembourg | 11.21% | 7.36% | 11.04% |
| 9 | Austria | 11.02% | 4.91% | 9.75% |
| 10 | Estonia | 10.37% | 5.43% | 8.54% |
| 11 | Ireland | 10.23% | 2.05% | 7.05% |
| 12 | Belgium | 7.81% | 4.00% | 6.82% |
| 13 | Malta | 6.59% | 3.37% | 4.98% |
| 14 | Spain | 6.51% | 2.65% | 5.10% |
| 15 | Slovakia | 6.11% | 1.25% | 4.31% |
| 16 | Hungary | 6.01% | 2.38% | 5.60% |
| 17 | Lithuania | 4.95% | 1.44% | 3.54% |
| 18 | France | 4.89% | — | 4.75% |
| 19 | Portugal | 4.54% | 1.18% | 3.06% |
| 20 | Czechia | 3.96% | 1.51% | 3.19% |
| 21 | Slovenia | 3.84% | 1.72% | 2.80% |
| 22 | Latvia | 3.09% | 0.61% | 1.89% |
| 23 | Poland | 1.57% | 0.65% | 0.98% |
| 24 | Cyprus | 1.50% | — | 0.96% (low reliability) |
| 25 | Croatia | 1.22% | 1.98% | 2.56% |
| 26 | Greece | 1.17% | 0.20% | 0.99% (low reliability) |
| 27 | Bulgaria | 0.72% | 0.42% | 0.26% (low reliability) |
| 28 | Romania | 0.32% | 0.44% | 0.23% (low reliability) |
Percentage of all individuals aged 16 to 74 (not just internet users) who bought or sold shares, bonds, units in funds or other financial assets over the internet in the last three months. Italy’s 2025 figure is marked confidential by Eurostat; Iceland and the UK have no recent data.
EU average, 2020 to 2025
| Year | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EU27 | 4.38% | 4.74% | 4.73% | 5.18% | 6.35% | 8.13% |
Eurostat flags 2020 as estimated and 2021 as a break in series, so compare those years with care.
What it means for traders
These figures count ordinary online investing, not active day trading or prop firm challenges, which no official survey measures. They are useful context for how common retail investing is in each market. For US figures, see our Fed stock ownership page; for European CFD loss rates, broker risk warnings compared; and for what a challenge costs relative to local income, challenge cost by country.
Sources
- Eurostat, Financial activities over the internet (2020 onwards), dataset isoc_ec_ifi20, indicator I_BFIN_SH1, unit percentage of individuals, last updated 17 April 2026. Retrieved via the Eurostat API on 17 October 2026.
Method
Values and flags are copied from the Eurostat API. Ranking covers the 27 EU members plus Norway and Switzerland with a 2025 value.
Caveats
This is a survey, so small countries and low values carry wide margins; Eurostat marks some as low reliability.
The question covers any online purchase or sale of financial assets in the past three months, from a fund top-up to active trading.
Source: Eurostat. Eurostat data may be reused with acknowledgement; Prop Data Lab’s rankings and commentary are our own and not endorsed by Eurostat.
How to cite this
Prop Data Lab, “Online Share Trading Across Europe by Country”, updated 17 October 2026, https://propdatalab.com/online-share-trading-europe-by-country-eurostat/
The table and the CSV are free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: copy, chart or republish them, commercial use included, as long as you link back to this page. Underlying data: © European Union, Eurostat (isoc_ec_ifi20), reused under Eurostat’s copyright notice with acknowledgement.
Common questions
What share of Europeans trade shares online?
8.13% of EU individuals aged 16-74 bought or sold shares, bonds, funds or other financial assets online in the three months before the 2025 Eurostat survey.
Which European country has the most online investors?
Sweden, at 28.39% of individuals in 2025, followed by Norway (27.83%) and Finland (24.90%).
Which EU country has the fewest online investors?
Romania, at 0.32% in 2025, followed by Bulgaria at 0.72%.
How common is online trading in Czechia?
3.96% of Czech individuals aged 16-74 traded financial assets online in 2025, up from 1.51% in 2020.