The Statistical Office publishes employees, wages and enterprise counts by SK NACE in three separate tables, and in none of them do they stand side by side. Brought into one row per region, industry and logistics give a picture no market survey can assemble: how many people work in manufacturing and in transport and storage, in how many enterprises, and what they are paid. Those are the three quantities that determine who in a given region can be a tenant of industrial or warehouse property at all.
The figures below are for 2025 and come from three tables of the DATAcube database. Nothing in them is an estimate or a conversion from market sources; the only thing added is the division of one column by another, and every such ratio is marked as an own calculation.
What is brought together here
The first table is the average registered number of employees by economic activity, established by the workplace method, that is by place of work rather than place of residence. The second is the average monthly wage per employee in euro, surveyed by the same method. The third is the count of enterprises by economic activity as at 31 December.
Two sections of the classification are tracked. Section C is manufacturing, section H transport and storage. The first drives demand for production halls, the second for warehouses and distribution centres — and although market language merges the two into one concept, in the register they are two separate populations with different enterprise sizes and different wages.
| Region | Employees C | Enterprises C | Employees per enterprise C | Share of C in regional employees | Wage C, € |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slovak Republic | 357 789 | 31 000 | 11,5 | 21,8 % | 1 904 |
| Bratislava | 41 001 | 6 796 | 6,0 | 9,8 % | 2 554 |
| Trnava | 44 985 | 3 236 | 13,9 | 29,2 % | 1 871 |
| Trenčín | 66 515 | 3 431 | 19,4 | 39,7 % | 1 898 |
| Nitra | 49 129 | 3 713 | 13,2 | 26,9 % | 1 820 |
| Žilina | 46 806 | 3 945 | 11,9 | 24,8 % | 1 929 |
| Banská Bystrica | 34 598 | 2 823 | 12,3 | 21,4 % | 1 636 |
| Prešov | 37 965 | 3 539 | 10,7 | 21,9 % | 1 510 |
| Košice | 36 781 | 3 517 | 10,5 | 18,9 % | 1 966 |
The columns with employees, enterprises and wages are taken from the registers. The columns with employees per enterprise and with the share of section C in regional employees are own calculations, the first of them combining an annual average with an enterprise count for a single day. The total regional employment from which the shares are computed is Bratislava 419 214, Košice 194 102, Žilina 188 748, Nitra 182 466, Prešov 173 689, Trenčín 167 350, Banská Bystrica 161 346 and Trnava 154 071.
Trenčín region: industry makes up 39,7 % of employment
The Trenčín region holds 66 515 employees in manufacturing, the highest of all regions, although in total employment it ranks only sixth. The share of section C in regional employees is 39,7 %, almost double the national 21,8 %, and the next region in order is Trnava at 29,2 %.
Alongside that it has the largest average plant: 19,4 employees per enterprise against 11,5 for the whole country. For a hall this means the local tenant base is made of a smaller number of larger entities, and that the departure of one tenant has a greater effect here than elsewhere. The wage in section C is meanwhile 1 898 €, practically the national average — the high concentration of industry does not translate into pay.
The same region looks entirely different in transport and storage. It has 9 166 employees in section H, which is second to last, and the share of section H in regional employment is 5,5 % against the national 6,3 %. The region with the strongest industry therefore has a below-average logistics base, and that is a difference the term „industrial property“ loses.
Bratislava region: the largest labour market, the smallest plants
The Bratislava region has the largest employment of all regions, 419 214 people, but only 41 001 in manufacturing, that is 9,8 %. Enterprises in section C number 6 796 here, the most in the country — and that at the same time gives the lowest count of employees per enterprise, 6,0.
The combination of many small enterprises and a high wage is a different type of demand for a hall than in the Trenčín region. The wage in section C reaches 2 554 €, which is 134,1 % of the national average; in section H it is 2 322 €. The tenant here will sooner be a smaller entity with higher value added per employee than a large production plant, and the unit it is looking for has a different size.
In transport and storage the ratio is reversed: 26 449 employees is a quarter of all in the country and 3 054 enterprises is likewise the most. The share of section H in regional employment is meanwhile 6,3 %, exactly the national average. The Bratislava region is therefore not above average in logistics by share but by volume — and when looking for a tenant for a specific hall that is a different piece of information.
The middle: Trnava, Nitra and Žilina regions
Three regions that surveys often merge into „the west and the middle“ have three distinct profiles in the register. The Trnava region has the smallest total employment in the country, 154 071 people, but the second highest share of industry, 29,2 %, with 44 985 employees in section C and 3 236 enterprises, which gives 13,9 employees per enterprise.
The Nitra region has more employees in industry, 49 129, but spread across 3 713 enterprises, that is 13,2 per enterprise, and a share of 26,9 %. The difference against the Trnava region is small in the average and larger in the wage: 1 820 € against 1 871 €, the lowest wage in section C among the western regions.
The Žilina region has 46 806 employees in section C, 3 945 enterprises and 11,9 employees per enterprise, a structure closer to the national average than any other region. The wage of 1 929 € meanwhile places it third in the country. The industry share of 24,8 % is above average, but nowhere near Trenčín.
The Banská Bystrica region stays close to the national middle in both sections, and that is precisely what makes it interesting. In manufacturing it has 34 598 employees, the fewest of all regions, and a share of 21,4 %, almost exactly the national 21,8 %. The wage of 1 636 € is however the second lowest in the country and reaches 85,9 % of the national average. In transport and storage it has 9 606 employees in 936 enterprises, which gives 10,3 employees per enterprise, an above-average size at a below-average volume. A region with an average share and a below-average wage is a different offer to a tenant than a region with the same share and a wage above the average.
The east: Košice and Prešov regions
The Košice region has 36 781 employees in section C and a share of 18,9 %, which after Bratislava is the lowest share in the country. The wage in this section is however 1 966 €, that is 103,3 % of the national average and the second highest after the Bratislava region.
The Prešov region has 37 965 employees in the same section, somewhat more than Košice, but a wage of 1 510 €, which is 79,3 % of the national average and the lowest value in the country. The difference between two neighbouring regions in the wage of the same section is 456 € per employee per month, that is 30,2 % against the higher value.
Section H separates the two regions again. Košice has 13 339 employees in transport and storage, the second highest count in the country, and a share of 6,9 % above the national average. Prešov has 8 040, the fewest in the country, and a share of 4,6 %, likewise the lowest. Speaking of „the east“ as one logistics market therefore has no support in any of the three registers.
Transport and storage by region
Section H employs 103 362 people in 11 580 enterprises in Slovakia, which is 6,3 % of employment. Both the distribution and the enterprise size behave differently in it than in industry, and the differences between regions are larger in the second indicator than in the first.
| Region | Employees H | Enterprises H | Employees per enterprise H | Share of H in regional employees | Wage H, € |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slovak Republic | 103 362 | 11 580 | 8,9 | 6,3 % | 1 783 |
| Bratislava | 26 449 | 3 054 | 8,7 | 6,3 % | 2 322 |
| Trnava | 11 319 | 1 486 | 7,6 | 7,3 % | 1 715 |
| Trenčín | 9 166 | 827 | 11,1 | 5,5 % | 1 489 |
| Nitra | 12 850 | 1 903 | 6,8 | 7,0 % | 1 417 |
| Žilina | 11 507 | 1 114 | 10,3 | 6,1 % | 1 635 |
| Banská Bystrica | 9 606 | 936 | 10,3 | 6,0 % | 1 628 |
| Prešov | 8 040 | 1 019 | 7,9 | 4,6 % | 1 618 |
| Košice | 13 339 | 1 241 | 10,7 | 6,9 % | 1 691 |
The highest share of section H in regional employment belongs to the Trnava region at 7,3 %, although in absolute count it is only fifth. The Nitra region has, after Bratislava, the second highest count of transport and storage enterprises in the country, 1 903, but the lowest average of 6,8 employees per enterprise. The Trenčín region has on the contrary the fewest enterprises, 827, and one of the highest averages, 11,1.
For a warehouse hall this is the difference between two entirely different rental demands. A region with many small hauliers generates demand for smaller units and shorter commitments; a region with larger enterprises allows units that can be let to a single tenant for longer. Neither of those can be read from a region’s share of total warehouse stock in m², which surveys present as the main regional characteristic. The wage in section H meanwhile runs from 1 417 € in the Nitra region to 2 322 € in Bratislava.
What is not in this data
The registers contain not a single square metre. They hold no warehouse or production stock by region, no vacancy and no rent, and no split of section H into storage separately from transport. Any of that would have to be taken from consultants, and it is not taken here.
They likewise hold no size structure of enterprises. The indicator „employees per enterprise“ is an own ratio of two figures, not a published size class, and it averages a micro-enterprise together with a large plant. In a region with many sole-trader entities in section H this average will be lower regardless of how large the actual distribution centres there are.
The wage in the table is finally not a measure of a region’s wealth but an item in a tenant’s cost model. The range in section C runs from 1 510 € in the Prešov region to 2 554 € in Bratislava, a difference of 1 044 € per employee per month, that is 69,1 % against the lower value. For a hall with several hundred employees this difference is an order of magnitude larger than the whole annual rent, and that is precisely why location decisions in manufacturing follow the wage rather than the rent. Rent itself and its regional range are a separate topic, covered by another text on this site.
Sources and verification
| Indicator | Source | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Average registered number of employees by SK NACE and region | SU SR, DATAcube, table pr3113rr | Year 2025, workplace method, updated 31. 7. 2026 |
| Average monthly wage per employee by SK NACE and region | SU SR, DATAcube, table np3110rr | Year 2025, in euro, updated 31. 7. 2026 |
| Count of enterprises by SK NACE and region | SU SR, DATAcube, table og3803rr | As at 31. 12. 2025, updated 30. 1. 2026 |
| Employees per enterprise and section shares | Own calculation | Ratio of two columns above, with no external inputs |
Difference of definitions. Employees and wages are averages for the whole of 2025, the count of enterprises in the third register is a stock for a single day, 31 December 2025. The ratio „employees per enterprise“ therefore combines an annual average with a point-in-time stock and is not an enterprise size class. The workplace method moreover assigns an employee to the region of the workplace, so commuting across a regional boundary shows in the figures on the workplace side, not the residence side.
Conclusions
Bringing three registers together for 2025 gives a regional picture that does not occur in market surveys. Manufacturing employs 357 789 people in 31 000 enterprises in Slovakia, transport and storage 103 362 people in 11 580 enterprises. The share of manufacturing in regional employees runs from 9,8 % in Bratislava to 39,7 % in Trenčín, the average enterprise size in that section from 6,0 employees in Bratislava to 19,4 in Trenčín, and the wage from 1 510 € in Prešov to 2 554 € in Bratislava. In transport and storage Bratislava leads with 26 449 employees, Košice has the second highest count at 13 339 and Nitra, with 1 903 enterprises, the lowest average of 6,8 employees per enterprise, while Trenčín with 827 enterprises reaches 11,1. The regional average of these quantities describes no single region: the range in every column is wider than the distance of any region from the middle, and the pairs of regions that commentary mentions together — Košice with Prešov, Trnava with Nitra — belong in these registers to the furthest apart. What does not follow from it has to be said just as precisely: the registers contain no stock in m², no vacancy and no rent, so this table speaks about the tenant base, not about the market for halls.
Materiál má informatívny charakter a nepredstavuje právne, daňové ani finančné poradenstvo.