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.
| Total1 | SMEs1 | SME-Share1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of enterprises | |||
| Enterprises according to business register 20242 | 740 506 | 733 906 | 99.1 % |
| Enterprises liable to VAT 20243 | 635 353 | 631 426 | 99.4 % |
| Enterprise turnover | |||
| Turnover of enterprises liable to VAT 20243 (in €) | 1 998.35 bn | 602.41 bn | 30.1 % |
| Employees in enterprises | |||
| Employees enterprises according to business register 20242 | 9.24 m | 4.70 m | 50.8 % |
| Employees subject to social insurance contributions according to business register 20242 | 7.46 m | 3.39 m | 45.4 % |
| Apprentices in local establishments (31.12.2024)4, 5 | 0.35 m | 0.24 m | 68.1 % |
| Self-employed | |||
| Self-employed total 20246 | 725 000 | ||
| thereof: Self-employed in liberal professions (01.01.2025)7 | 286 900 | ||
| Self-employment rate 20246, 8 | 8.1 % | ||
| © IfM Bonn |
Sources: Federal Statistical Office; Federal Employment Agency; Institute for Liberal Professions Nuremberg; Calculations by IfM Bonn, 05/2026.