Small and medium-sized enterprises

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Implementing the EU enterprise concept in structural business statistics from reference year 2018

Results concerning enterprises in structural business statistics are based on the common EU enterprise definition - as specified by the EU Regulation on statistical units - for the first time for reference year 2018. In addition, results are still published for the unit of presentation that was used until reference year 2017. In the past, it was referred to as the enterprise though, in the sense of the EU Regulation on statistical units, it was a legal unit. The wording of publications has been adjusted accordingly: data on enterprises (until reference year 2017) will now be referred to as data on legal units.

56% of the persons employed worked in SMEs

The vast majority of the enterprises in the economic sectors examined employed less than 250 persons and had an annual turnover of not more than 50 million Euro in 2021. Thus they belonged to the SMEs. This was true for 99.3% of the total of 3.2 million enterprises.

SMEs generated 78% of turnover in the economic sector of construction, accomodation and food services

Large enterprises have by far the largest turnover. In the reference year 2021, the turnover of SMEs amounted to 29% of the total turnover in the economic sectors studied. With 43% for gross value added, 45% for gross investment in tangible goods and 40% for personnel costs, the relevant proportions of SMEs were smaller than those of large enterprises, too.