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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 20202
3 374 5833 351 27499.3%
Enterprises liable to VAT 202033 025 1453 012 04099.6%
Enterprise turnover   
Turnover of enterprises
according to business
register 20202 (in €)
6 879.85 bn2 319.44 bn33.7%
Turnover of enterprises
liable to VAT 20203 (in €)
6 503.46 bn2.392.62 bn36.8%
Employees/Apprentices in
enterprises and companies
   
Employees in enterprises
according to business register 20202
34.93 m19.02 m54.4%
Employees subject to social
insurance contributions in local
establishments (incl.
apprentices) (31.12.2020)4
31.69 m21.43 m67.6%
Apprentices in local
establishments (31.12.2020)4,5
1.54 m1.09 m70.6%
Self-employed   
Self-employed total 202063.57 m  
thereof:
Self-employed in liberal
professions (01.01.2021)7
1.46 m  
Self-employment rate
20206,8
8.6%  
reporting:
Self-employed except
agriculture 20209
3.40 m  
Self-employment rate
except agriculture 20208, 9
8.3%  
Economic Performance   
Net value added of enterprises
202010
   60.1%
Research and Development   
R&D-expenses of the companies
202011 (in €)
93.93 bn7.68 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, 07/2022.

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

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