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 20212 | 704 843 | 699 034 | 99.2% |
| Enterprises liable to VAT 20213 | 611 049 | 607 487 | 99.4% |
| Enterprise turnover | |||
| Turnover of enterprises liable to VAT 20213 (in €) | 1 754.92 bn | 550.54 bn | 31.4% |
| Employees/Apprentices in enterprises and companies | |||
| Employees enterprises according to business register 20212 | 8.12 m | 4.09 m | 50.4% |
| Employees subject to social insurance contributions in local establishments (incl. apprentices) (31.12.2021)4 | 6.81 m | 4.54 m | 66.6% |
| Apprentices in local establishments (31.12.201)4,5 | 0.35 m | 0.25 m | 70.5% |
| Self-employed | |||
| Self-employed total 20216 | 692 000 | ||
| thereof: Self-employed in liberal professions (01.01.2022)7 | 284 800 | ||
| Self-employment rate 20226, 8 | 8.0% | ||
| © IfM Bonn |
Sources: Federal Statistical Office; Federal Employment Agency; Institute for Liberal Professions Nuremberg; Calculations by IfM Bonn, 01/2024.