Brussels, 13/10/2005 (Agence Europe) - In 2004, the number of people employed by the hotel and restaurant sector in the Member States of the EU25 was 7.8 million, which is 4% of total employment, the statistical office Eurostat indicates in a recent report (Statistics in brief - Industry, Trade and Services, n°32/2005). The structure of employment in this sector has some particularities, such as a high proportion of young people and women, as well as people working part-time. The report establishes that: - workers in this sector were most numerous in the UK, Germany and Spain (around 1.2 million people in each) and in Italy (1 million); - as a percentage of total employment, this sector is largest in Cyprus (8.9% of total employment), Malta (8.2%), Spain (6.7%), Greece (6.5%), Ireland (5.9%), Austria (5.7%) and Portugal (5.2%). The percentage is smallest in Poland (1.7%); - people aged from 15 to 34 represented just over 48% of total employment in this sector, compared to 35% across all service sectors. The Netherlands (67%) had the highest proportion of young people, followed by Denmark (64%) and Sweden (60%), with the lowest proportions being established in Cyprus (32%), Portugal (39%) and Germany (41%); - women represented 54% of the sector's workforce compared to 44% both in services and in the economy as a whole. This percentage was particularly high in Lithuania (78%), Latvia (77%), Finland (73%) and Estonia (71%). By contrast, women held fewer than half of the jobs in Malta (38%), Greece (47%), France (48%) and Spain (49%); - the proportion of part-time jobs was 26%, compared to 18% in the economy as a whole and 22% in services. The proportion of part-time workers in this sector varied widely from one state to another, from 5% in Slovakia and 6% in Hungary and Greece to 67% in the Netherlands, 50% in Denmark and 49% in the UK.