Broadcasters from fifty-two countries have participated in the Eurovision Song Contest since its inaugural edition in 1956, with winning songs coming from twenty-eight of those countries. The contest, organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), is held annually between members of the union who participate representing their countries. Broadcasters submit songs to the event where they are performed live by the performer(s) they had selected and cast votes to determine the winning song of the competition.

Participation in the contest is primarily open to all broadcasters with full EBU membership, with only one entrant per country allowed in any given year. To become a full member of the EBU, a broadcaster has to be from a country which is covered by the European Broadcasting Area—which is not limited only to the continent of Europe—or is a member state of the Council of Europe; a statutory revision in 2026 allows for broadcasters from observer states of the Council of Europe to also apply for full membership. Thus, eligibility is not determined by geographic inclusion within Europe, despite the "Euro" in "Eurovision", nor does it have a direct connection with the European Union. Several countries geographically outside the boundaries of Europe have been represented in the contest: Israel, Cyprus, and Armenia, in Western Asia, since , , and respectively; Morocco, in North Africa, only in ; and Australia since ; , in North America, is set to make its debut in . In addition, several transcontinental countries with only part of their territory in Europe have been represented: Turkey, from to ; Russia, from to ; Georgia, since ; and Azerbaijan, since . Two countries that have previously sought to enter the competition, Lebanon and Tunisia, in Western Asia and North Africa respectively, are also outside of Europe. Australia, where the contest has been broadcast since 1983, has been represented every year since its debut in 2015, as its broadcaster is an EBU associate member and had received special approval from the contest's reference group.

The number of countries represented each year has grown steadily, from seven in 1956 to over twenty in the late 1980s. A record forty-three countries participated in 2008, 2011, and 2018. As the number of contestants has risen, preliminary competitions and relegation have been introduced, to ensure that as many countries as possible get the chance to compete. In 1993, a preliminary show, Kvalifikacija za Millstreet ("Qualification for Millstreet"), was held to select three Eastern European countries to compete for the first time in the main contest. After the 1993 contest, a relegation rule was introduced: the six lowest-placed countries in the contest would not compete in the following year. In 1996, a new system was introduced. Audiotapes of all twenty-nine entrants were submitted to national juries. The twenty-two highest-placed songs after the juries voted reached the contest. Norway, as the host country, directly qualified for the final. From 1997 to 2001, a system was used whereby the countries with the lowest average scores over the previous five years were relegated.

The relegation system used in 1994 and 1995 was used again between 1997 and 2003. Since 1999, the winning country in the previous year's contest automatically qualifies for the following year's final, along with the "Big" countries whose broadcasters are the largest financial contributors to the EBU. In 2004, a semi-final was introduced. In addition to the "Big" countries, the countries that were in the top 10 the previous year received a bye and qualified directly for the final. A further ten countries qualified from the semi-final, making a total of 24 in the final. Since 2008, two semi-finals are held with all countries, except the previous year's winner and the "Big" countries, participating in one of the semi-finals.

Some countries, such as Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Switzerland, have entered most years, while Morocco has only entered once. Two countries, Tunisia and Lebanon, have attempted to enter the contest but withdrew before making a debut.

Participants

Statistics by country

The following table lists the countries with a broadcaster that have participated in the contest at least once, up to 2026. Planned entries for the cancelled and entries that failed to qualify in the qualification rounds in or are not counted.

Shading indicates countries whose broadcaster have withdrawn from the contest or former participants that are unable to compete in future contests. Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro were both dissolved, in 1991 and 2006 respectively. Serbia and Montenegro was represented in the 1992 contest as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which consisted of only those two republics. Montenegro and Serbia have each competed as separate countries since 2007. The Belarusian broadcaster BTRC was expelled from the EBU in July 2021, preventing them from competing in future editions of the contest, or any EBU event indefinitely. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent exclusion of Russia from the 2022 contest, the Russian broadcasters VGTRK and Channel One announced their intention to withdraw their EBU membership in February 2022 and were suspended from the union in May, preventing them from competing in future editions of the contest, or any EBU event for an indefinite period of time. The EBU member broadcasters from two additional countries have made failed attempts to participate in the contest, but in both cases withdrew their planned appearances at a late stage: Tunisia in ; and in . Liechtenstein attempted to join in , but was ineligible due to the lack of an EBU member broadcaster.

+ Table key † Inactivecountries which participated in the past but did not appear in the most recent contest, or will not appear in the upcoming contest ◇ Ineligiblecountries whose broadcasters are no longer part of the EBU and are therefore ineligible to participate ‡ Formercountries which previously participated but no longer exist

+ Statistics () Country Broadcaster(s) Debut year Latest entry Entries Finals Qualifying Latest final Best placement Wins Amount Rate Latest RTSH 22 13 12/21 5th 0 † RTVA 6 0 0/6 N/A 12th () 0 AMPTV 18 14 13/17 4th 0 SBS 11 8 7/10 2nd 0 ORF 58 51 8/15 1st 3 İTV 18 13 12/17 1st 1 ◇ BTRC 16 6 6/16 6th 0 RTBF / VRT 67 55 9/21 1st 1 † BHRT 19 18 7/8 3rd 0 BNT 15 6 6/15 1st 1CBC/Radio-Canada colspan="8" HRT 31 21 9/19 2nd 0 CyBC 42 34 12/20 2nd 0 † ČT 14 6 6/14 6th 0 DR 54 46 12/20 1st 3 ERR 31 20 11/22 1st 1 Yle 59 51 13/21 2026 1st 1 68 68 Permanent finalist 1st 5 GPB 18 8 8/18 9th 0 ARD (SWR) 69 69 Permanent finalist 1st 2 ERT 46 43 16/19 1st 1 † MTVA 17 14 10/13 4th 0 † RÚV 37 28 11/20 2nd 0 † RTÉ 58 46 7/19 1st 7 IPBC 48 41 13/20 1st 4 RAI 51 51 Permanent finalist 1st 3 LSM 26 12 7/21 1st 1 LRT 26 19 14/21 6th 0 RTL 40 39 2/3 1st 5 PBS 38 28 10/20 2nd 0 TRM 20 14 13/19 3rd 0 † TMC 24 21 0/3 1st 1 RTCG 14 2 2/14 13th 0 † RTM 1 1 N/A 18th 0 NPO 65 54 10/20 1st 5 MRT 21 9 6/18 7th 0 NRK 64 61 16/19 1st 3 TVP 28 18 9/19 2nd 0 RTP 57 47 9/19 1st 1 TVR 24 20 12/16 3rd 0 ◇ RTR / C1R 23 22 11/12 1st 1 SMRTV 16 4 4/16 19th 0 RTS 18 14 13/17 1st 1 ‡ UJRT 2 2 1/1 2nd 0 † RTVS 7 3 0/4 18th 0 † RTVSLO 30 17 8/21 7th 0 † RTVE 64 64 Permanent finalist 1st 2 SVT 65 64 15/16 1st 7 SRG SSR 66 54 9/21 1st 3 † TRT 34 33 6/7 1st 1 Suspilne 21 21 16/16 1st 3 BBC 68 68 Permanent finalist 1st 5 ‡ JRT 27 27 N/A 1st 1

Participating countries by year

Seven countries participated in the first contest. Since then, the number of entries has increased steadily. In 1961, three countries debuted, Finland, Spain, and Yugoslavia, joining the thirteen already included. Yugoslavia would become the only socialist country to participate in the following three decades. In 1970, a Nordic-led boycott of the contest reduced the number of countries entering to twelve. By the late 1980s, over twenty countries had become standard.

In 1993, the collapse of the USSR in Eastern Europe and the subsequent merger of EBU and the International Radio and Television Organisation (OIRT) gave numerous broadcasters from new countries the opportunity to compete. Three countries—Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, all of them former Yugoslav republics—went through a pre-qualifier round to compete. After the 1993 event, a relegation system was introduced, allowing more Eastern European countries to compete, with seven more making their debut in 1994.

In 2003, broadcasters from four countries applied to make their debut: Albania, Belarus, Bulgaria, and Ukraine. In addition, Serbia and Montenegro, who had not competed since 1992 when they competed as Yugoslavia, applied to debut. The EBU, having originally accepted the five countries' applications, later rejected all but Ukraine; allowing five further countries to compete would have meant relegating too many countries. The semi-final was introduced in 2004 in an attempt to prevent situations like this. The EBU set a limit of forty countries, but by 2005, thirty-nine were competing. In 2007, the EBU lifted the limit, allowing forty-two countries to compete. Two semi-finals were held for the first time in 2008. Only two countries have debuted from the 2009 contest onwards - Australia became the 52nd country to participate, debuting in , and Canada the 53rd in .

Participating countries by decade

The following table lists the participating countries in each year since the first Eurovision Song Contest was held in 1956, sorted by each decade:

+Table keyDebutant The country made its debut during the decade. Winner The country won the contest. Second place The country was ranked second. Third place The country was ranked third. Remaining places The country placed from fourth to second last in the final. Last place The country was ranked last in the final.Withdrawn/disqualified before the contestThe country was to participate in the contest but either withdrew or got disqualified before the contest took place.Disqualified during the contest The country had already participated in at least one show but was disqualified before the completion of the contest (2024). Non-qualified for the final The country did not qualify for the final (2004–present). Non-qualified for the contest The country did not qualify from the pre-qualifying round (1993, 1996). Unknown The country's placing in the contest is unknown (1956).Relegated The country was relegated from the contest due to poor results in the previous years (1994–1995; 1997–2003). Cancelled The contest was cancelled after the deadline for submitting songs had passed (2020). Upcoming The country is listed as a participant at the next contest, however, the contest has yet to take place. No entry The country did not enter the contest.

1956–1959

Country ◁ X X ? X X X 3 X X ? 2 1 3 ? X X X ? X 3 X ? X ◁ ◁ ? 1 ◁ 1 X X 1 X 2 X X 2

1960–1969

Country X ◁ ◁ X X X 1 X X X ◁ ◁ X X ◁ X X X X X X X 1 X X X X X ◁ X ◁ X X ◁ X 1 X 1 X X 3 X 3 3 1 X X X X ◁ ◁ X X X X X X 2 X X X X X 3 1 X ◁ X X X ◁ 1 3 X X 1 X X X X 3 X 2 X 3 X ◁ X X X X X ◁ ◁ X X X X ◁ 1 X X X ◁ X X 3 X X ◁ ◁ X X X X X X ◁ X X ◁ X X 1 1 X X X ◁ X 2 X X X X 3 X 2 ◁ X X ◁ X X 2 2 X X 2 2 X 1 2 1 X X X ◁ X X X X X

1970–1979

Country X X X X X ◁ X X X ◁ X X X X 2 ◁ X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X W X 2 1 3 3 3 3 3 X ◁ X X X X X X X X X X 1 X X X X X X 3 X X X X X X X 1 1 X X X X 2 3 X X X X ◁ X 1 1 X X X X X X ◁ ◁ W X X 1 X X X X 3 X X X X X X X 3 1 X X X X X X X ◁ X ◁ X ◁ X X X X ◁ X X X X X X 2 X 2 X X X X X 2 X X X 1 X ◁ X X X X X X ◁ X X X X X W ◁ X W 2 X 2 3 X 2 1 2 X X X X X X X X X

1980–1989