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.

• In 2024, approx. 733 906 enterprises classified as small and medium-sized enterprises in North Rhine-Westphalia, accounting for 99.1% of the total number of enterprises with turnover from goods and services and/or employees.¹
• SMEs in North Rhine-Westphalia generated an annual turnover of approx. 602.41 bn € in 2024 which represents 30.1% of the total turnover of all enterprises subject to turnover tax in North Rhine-Westphalia (cf. Germany: 2 793.12 bn € and 31.8% of total turnover).^{2, 3}
• SMEs in North Rhine-Westphalia employed approx. 4.70 million employees in 2024, accounting for a share of 50.8% in total employment. 1Some 68.1% of all apprentices were trained by establishments with less than 250 employees subject to social insurance contributions at the end of 2024.¹
• Some 68.1% of all apprentices were trained by establishments with less than 250 employees subject to social insurance contributions at the end of 2024.²