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.
| Total11 | SMEs11 | SME-Share11 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of enterprises | |||
| Enterprises according to business register 20192 | 3 559 197 | 3 535 705 | 99.3% |
| Enterprises liable to VAT 20193 | 3 288 306 | 3 274 910 | 99.6% |
| Enterprise turnover | |||
| Turnover of enterprises according to business register 20192 (in €) | 7 153.38 bn | 2 353.35 bn | 32.9% |
| Turnover of enterprises liable to VAT 20193 (in €) | 6 770.83 bn | 2.426.96 bn | 35.8% |
| Employees/Apprentices in enterprises and companies | |||
| Employees in enterprises according to business register 20192 | 35.21 m | 19.24 m | 54.7% |
| Employees subject to social insurance contributions in local establishments (incl. apprentices) (31.12.2019)4 | 31.80 m | 21.50 m | 67.6% |
| Apprentices in local establishments (31.12.2019)4,5 | 1.56 m | 1.11 m | 71.3% |
| Self-employed | |||
| Self-employed total 20196 | 3.96 m | ||
| thereof: Self-employed in liberal professions (01.01.2020)7 | 1.45 m | ||
| Self-employment rate 20196, 8 | 9.3% | ||
| reporting: Self-employed except agriculture 20199 | 3.78 m | ||
| Self-employment rate except agriculture 20198, 9 | 9.0% | ||
| Economic Performance | |||
| Net value added of enterprises 201910 | 60.6% | ||
| Research and Development | |||
| R&D-expenses of the companies 201911 (in €) | 98.52 bn | 7.74 bn | 7.9% |
| © IfM Bonn |
Sources: Federal Statistical Office; Federal Employment Agency; Institute for Liberal Professions Nuremberg; Science statistics of the Stifterverband; Calculations by IfM Bonn, 09/2021.