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Overview - Mittelstand

Small and medium-sized enterprises are the engine of the German economy. This is illustrated by statistical data on the macro-economic significance of SMEs and by SME key indicators for Germany and North Rhine-Westphalia (cf. the table below). The following data are based on SME definition by the European Commission.

Please note that we currently provide only a selection of the most important statistics on our English website.

For further statistics, please refer to our German section.

Key indicators based on SME definition by the European Commission

 Total11SMEs11SME-Share11 
Number of enterprises   
Enterprises according to
business register 20212
3 390 7043 368 57999.3%
Enterprises liable to VAT 202133 022 4413 008 80699.5%
Enterprise turnover   
Turnover of enterprises
according to business
register 20212 (in €)
7 789.76 bn2 439.26 bn31.3%
Turnover of enterprises
liable to VAT 20213 (in €)
7 692.33 bn2 516.38 bn32.7%
Employees/Apprentices in
enterprises and companies
   
Employees in enterprises
according to business register 20212
35.06 m18.97 m54.1%
Employees subject to social
insurance contributions in local
establishments (incl.
apprentices) (31.12.2021)4
32.23 m21.74 m67.5%
Apprentices in local
establishments (31.12.2021)4,5
1.52 m1.07 m70.3%
Self-employed   
Self-employed total 202163.58 m  
thereof:
Self-employed in liberal
professions (01.01.2022)7
1.47 m  
Self-employment rate
20216,8
8.6%  
reporting:
Self-employed except
agriculture 20219
3.42 m  
Self-employment rate
except agriculture 20218, 9
8.3%  
Economic Performance   
Net value added of enterprises
202110
   49.2%
Research and Development   
R&D-expenses of the companies
202111 (in €)
102.32 bn8.44 bn 8.2%
   © IfM Bonn

Notes

Sources: Federal Statistical Office; Federal Employment Agency; Institute for Liberal Professions Nuremberg; Science statistics of the Stifterverband; Calculations by IfM Bonn, 01/2024.

Updating

Key indicators are being updated on a regular basis. The update schedule depends on the availability of basic data from official/semi-official statistics published by statistical agencies and research institutes respectively. 

Contact Person

Researcher Simone Braun

Telephone
+49 228 72997 65
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