The Architects’ Council of Europe (ACE) Sector Study is a biennial survey that collects and analyses statistical, sociological and economic data on the European architects, the architectural market and the architectural practices.
Based on responses from 30.000 architects in 30 European countries, the sixth edition of the study, carried out in 2018, was enriched with new research areas, making it, without doubt, the most comprehensive study on the architectural profession in Europe and an essential reference tool for all those interested in the architectural profession and the built environment.
Architects in Europe
The study shows that the architectural profession in Europe is growing: The number of European architects has risen by 24% since 2008. Italy has the highest share of practicing architects (160.000), followed by Germany with 111.000 professionals. The pay of partners and directors of architectural practices has slightly fallen since 2016 and the gap between their salary and that of their employees is closing. Compared to salaried architects in the private and public sector, freelance architects have been earning much less, ever since 2008. Partners and directors in Luxemburg earn the most, followed by their colleagues in Germany.
While 20% of all architects have studied in another country, only 8% have worked abroad in 2018.
The European Market
The European market for architectural services is recovering, albeit slowly. The architectural market started to turn up in 2012, but there has been little change in the rate of increase since. Germany leads the list of most valuable markets in Europe with a value of 4.97 billion Euro, followed by the United Kingdom (2.26 billion Euro), Italy (2.07 billion Euro), France (961 million Euro) and the Netherlands (783 milllion Euro).
Women in the profession
53% of European architects in their 30s are female – among the generation now in their 50s the share is only 32%. On average, male architects earn 25% more than their female colleagues. In the last 10 years, this pay gap has decreased by 7%.
