The number of small and medium-sized enterprises in the United States was forecast to continuously decrease between 2024 and 2029 by in total 6.7 thousand enterprises (-2.24 percent). After the fourteenth consecutive decreasing year, the number is estimated to reach 291.94 thousand enterprises and therefore a new minimum in 2029. According to the OECD an enterprise is defined as the smallest combination of legal units, which is an organisational unit producing services or goods, that benefits from a degree of autonomy with regards to the allocation of resources and decision making. Shown here are small and medium-sized enterprises, which are defined as companies with 1-249 employees.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in more than 150 countries and regions worldwide. All input data are sourced from international institutions, national statistical offices, and trade associations. All data has been are processed to generate comparable datasets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).

According to survey conducted in March 2020, only 29 percent of respondents had seen sales decrease at their business or workplace due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The greatest impact so far has been the cancellation of meetings and conferences, with 38 percent of respondents reporting this.

According to a survey conducted in November 2020 on Chinese cross-border e-commerce companies, almost 60 percent of the surveyed companies had a small number of orders cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak. Around 30 percent of the interviewed companies suffered from a larger amount of order cancellation.

According to results of a survey conducted in April 2020 among event professionals and their suppliers it was found that due to the outbreak of the coronavirus 87 percent of respondents had to cancel their planned events and 66 percent postponed them. The source reported that there weren't a lot of events cancelled in February, but cancellation increased between March and June. The reasons for cancellations included social distancing and travel bans, but also fear of putting participants at risk.

According to a survey conducted in July and August 2020, approximately 85 percent of companies in Japan foresaw a highly negative impact if the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics were to be canceled, further postponed, or held without a live audience. Only around 15 percent of responding companies stated that it would positively affect their business. As a direct impact of COVID-19, the Japanese government announced the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games from July 2020 to July 2021, retaining the name as Tokyo 2020.

Of over 70 percent of survey participants who reported the need for state-provided aid to overcome the ongoing crisis, the most popular governmental support type was a tax reduction or cancellation. Over one third of participants also mentioned financial support or subsidies as a helpful measure to cope with current difficulties.

For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

Before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 17 percent of U.S. employees worked from home 5 days or more per week, a share that increased to 44 percent during the pandemic. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the remote working trend, as quarantines and lockdowns made commuting and working in an office close to impossible for millions around the world. Remote work, also called telework or working from home (WFH), provided a solution, with employees performing their roles away from the office supported by specialized technology, eliminating the commute to an office to remain connected with colleagues and clients. What enables working from home?

To enable remote work, employees rely on a remote work arrangements that enable hybrid work and make it safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Technology supporting remote work including laptops saw a surge in demand, video conferencing companies such as Zoom jumped in value, and employers had to consider new communication techniques and resources. Is remote work the future of work?

The response to COVID-19 has demonstrated that hybrid work models are not necessarily an impediment to productivity. For this reason, there is a general consensus that different remote work models will persist post-COVID-19. Many employers see benefits to flexible working arrangements, including positive results on employee wellness surveys, and potentially reducing office space. Many employees also plan on working from home more often, with 25 percent of respondents to a recent survey expecting remote work as a benefit of employment. As a result, it is of utmost importance to acknowledge any issues that may arise in this context to empower a hybrid workforce and ensure a smooth transition to more flexible work models.

Given that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak intensifies, annual estimates for the aviation industry adjusted. As of April 2021, annual passenger revenue in the Asia Pacific region was forecasted to decline by approximately 120 billion U.S. dollars from the previous year. COVID-19 and the global aviation Amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, countries and organizations began to implement precautionary measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 for a public purpose. Some of the preventive methods included imposing lockdowns or encouraging no travel unless necessary by governments. Similarly, businesses adopted a multitude of strategies to cope with the challenge, such as avoiding business travels or minimizing them. When aggregated, these measures by the governments and businesses affected the aviation industry adversely. Starting from February 2020, the year-on-year revenue-passenger kilometer (RPK) change on international routes continued to decline, reaching roughly 99 percent of decline by April 2020. This decline implies an almost complete cancellation of air travel across the globe. Just like previous months, the enormous negative effect of COVID-19 on passenger aviation continues to persist as of September 2020. Consequently, airlines were desperately urged to request government aid. For instance, Lufthansa Group received over 12 billion U.S. dollars and Air France – KLM roughly 11.7 billion U.S. dollars in government bailout package. Despite all, the vulnerability of airlines perseveres as the coronavirus pandemic exposes the globe to the second wave of infections across countries. Financial performance of airlines amid COVID-19 Due to the nature of business activity involved, airline groups usually hold fewer liquidity accounts in their asset portfolios. This tendency is especially the case for traditional airlines, although somewhat less true for low-cost carriers (LCCs). While analyzing the 2019 financial balance sheet data of European airlines, Lufthansa Group held only 12 percent of its global revenue in liquid assets, such as cash. Similarly, Air France-KLM around 22 percent of its revenue in liquid accounts. On the other hand, Wizz Air and Ryanair demonstrated the best liquidity accounts amongst all European airline groups, with over 47 percent of 2019 total revenue as liquid assets. The importance of liquid assets emerges when a business is in unexpected need to finance itself but does not have access to immediate finance capacities. For instance, a company with high illiquid asset portfolio firstly needs to liquidate its illiquid assets and then only be able to meet due business obligations. According to another analysis, Pakistan International and Precision Air have a high risk of collapse as of November 2020.

Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 57 percent of Italian companies in the agriculture industry had to face a significant decrease in their sales. The survey conducted in March 2020 also revealed that the outsourcing of external services was difficult, with 23 percent of companies not able to find providers of external services, mostly transport. Moreover, 14 percent of Italian companies had difficulties in finding raw materials, while the cancellation of all trade fairs was an issue for 12 percent of the asked entrepreneurs. For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

The total amount of data created, captured, copied, and consumed globally is forecast to increase rapidly, reaching 149 zettabytes in 2024. Over the next five years up to 2028, global data creation is projected to grow to more than 394 zettabytes. In 2020, the amount of data created and replicated reached a new high. The growth was higher than previously expected, caused by the increased demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as more people worked and learned from home and used home entertainment options more often. Storage capacity also growing Only a small percentage of this newly created data is kept though, as just two percent of the data produced and consumed in 2020 was saved and retained into 2021. In line with the strong growth of the data volume, the installed base of storage capacity is forecast to increase, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 19.2 percent over the forecast period from 2020 to 2025. In 2020, the installed base of storage capacity reached 6.7 zettabytes.

A survey on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Thailand in 2021 found that around 61.6 percent of SMEs experienced less income from the COVID-19 pandemic. SMEs are considered one of the most important business sectors in Thailand, contributing a large part to the country's exports and GDP.

 A country driven by small and medium businesses 

SMEs have been regarded as one of the most significant drivers of the Thai economy and contributes to around half of the country’s GDP. Despite being large in numbers, SMEs in Thailand still have limitations in terms of business infrastructure. The government has realized this and thus created the Office of SMEs Promotion as an effort to ease business operations for SMEs. The continuous governmental support and the increased accessibility of starting a business has then led to a substantial increase in SMEs, thus contributing to a stable growth in GDP, especially for the industry and services sector.

 The economic effect on SMEs of COVID-19 

 The COVID-19 pandemic has undeniably affected many SMEs in Thailand. The pandemic has first limited the flow of tourism which then led to a chain effect that disturbed other core sectors. Additionally, stringent government policies towards the pandemic have also directly affected the survivability of SMEs, leading to many businesses being shut down as well as many workers being laid-off. However, private efforts from the businesses itself have managed to sustain its operations for some businesses. One of the most effective practices include finding additional channels of income, especially adapting to online channels.

In April 2020, the most common terms that Russian business tenants were willing to negotiate about with their respective landlords during the crisis caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) were a reduction or cancellation of rent for a certain period, as per 47 and 20 percent of respondents, respectively. Only two percent of the polled entrepreneurs revealed that they did not need any negotiations regarding payment difficulties.

Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 78 percent of Italian companies in the food industry faced a significant order decrease. According to a survey, the outsourcing of external services was difficult. For instance, 25 percent of companies were not able to find this type of providers, and especially transport. Moreover, the cancellation of trade fairs was an issue for 19 percent of the asked entrepreneurs. These events are important occasions to sign new contracts and meet partners. Furthermore, similar issues were faced by companies operating in the agriculture sector.

Changing plans amid uncertainties

Apart from trade fairs, many other events were canceled or postponed in Italy. Most organizers thought to host events starting only from October 2020. However, a lot of concern surrounded the rescheduling of events, especially the fear of a new COVID-19 wave in the fall.

Major events affected

In 2020, Italy should have hosted almost two hundred international exhibitions across 11 different regions. These events would have brought visitors and visibility to the cities hosting them and to the country. International exhibitions happening in Italy would have centered mostly on textile and fashion.

The tech industry had a rough start to 2024. Technology companies worldwide saw a significant reduction in their workforce in the first quarter of 2024, with over 57 thousand employees being laid off. By the second quarter, layoffs impacted more than 43 thousand tech employees. In the final quarter of the year around 12 thousand employees were laid off. Layoffs impacting all global tech giants Layoffs in the global market escalated dramatically in the first quarter of 2023, when the sector saw a staggering record high of 167.6 thousand employees losing their jobs. Major tech giants such as Google, Microsoft, Meta, and IBM all contributed to this figure during this quarter. Amazon, in particular, conducted the most rounds of layoffs with the highest number of employees laid off among global tech giants. Industries most affected include the consumer, hardware, food, and healthcare sectors. Notable companies that have laid off a significant number of staff include Flink, Booking.com, Uber, PayPal, LinkedIn, and Peloton, among others. Overhiring led the trend, but will AI keep it going? Layoffs in the technology sector started following an overhiring spree during the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, companies expanded their workforce to meet increased demand for digital services during lockdowns. However, as lockdowns ended, economic uncertainties persisted and companies reevaluated their strategies, layoffs became inevitable, resulting in a record number of 263 thousand laid off employees in the global tech sector by trhe end of 2022. Moreover, it is still unclear how advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) will impact layoff trends in the tech sector. AI-driven automation can replace manual tasks leading to workforce redundancies. Whether through chatbots handling customer inquiries or predictive algorithms optimizing supply chains, the pursuit of efficiency and cost savings may result in more tech industry layoffs in the future.

In September 2024, the global PMI amounted to 47.5 for new export orders and 48.8 for manufacturing. The manufacturing PMI was at its lowest point in August 2020. It decreased over the last months of 2022 after the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war and rising inflation hit the world economy, and remained around 50 since.

In 2021, Class I railroad stock closing prices fluctuated, impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and new policies from the Biden Administration. In July, an executive order (EO) on economic competition was put in place, including provisions requiring rights of way to passenger rail. The measure, with potential to interfere with functioning freight markets, led to a drop in stock prices for Norfolk Southern, CSX, Kansas City Southern, and Union Pacific.

This statistic shows the share of food and grocery store banners openings and closures in the United States in 2019. That year, 56 percent of enterprises in the food/supermarket category opened stores.

Internet sales have played an increasingly significant role in retailing. In 2024, e-commerce accounted for over 17 percent of retail sales worldwide. Forecasts indicate that by 2029, the online segment will make up close to over 21 percent of total global retail sales. Retail e-commerce Online shopping has grown steadily in popularity in recent years. In 2024, global e-commerce sales amounted to over seven trillion U.S. dollars, a figure expected to exceed 10.4 trillion U.S. dollars by 2028. Digital development in Latin America boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic, generating unprecedented e-commerce growth in various economies across the region. So much so that Brazil and Argentina appear to lead the world's fastest-growing online retail markets. This trend correlates strongly with the constantly improving online access, especially in "mobile-first" online communities, which have long struggled with traditioe-comernal fixed broadband connections due to financial or infrastructure constraints but enjoy the advantages of cheap mobile broadband connections. M-commerce on the rise The average order value of online shopping via smartphones and tablets still lags traditional e-commerce via desktop computers. However, e-retailers around the world have caught up in mobile e-commerce sales. Online shopping via smartphones is particularly prominent in Asia. By the end of 2021, Malaysia was the top digital market based on the percentage of the population that had purchased something by phone, with nearly 45 percent having made a weekly mobile purchase. South Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines completed the top of the ranking.

In 2024, spending on digital transformation (DX) is projected to reach 2.5 trillion U.S. dollars. By 2027, global digital transformation spending is forecast to reach 3.9 trillion U.S. dollars. What is digital transformation? Digital transformation refers to the adoption of digital technology to transform business processes and services from non-digital to digital. This encompasses, among others, moving data to the cloud, using technological devices and tools for communication and collaboration, as well as automating processes. What is driving digital transformation? Digital transformation growth is due to several contributing factors. Among these was COVID-19 pandemic, which has increased the digital transformation tempo in organizations around the globe in 2020 considerably. Although the pandemic is over, working from home among organizations globally has not only remained, but also increased, increasing the drive for digital transformation. Other contributing causes include customer demand and the need to be on par with competitors. Overall, utilizing technologies for digital transformation render organizations more agile in responding to changing markets and enhance innovation, thereby making them more resilient.

According to a survey conducted in 2021 on Chinese cross-border e-commerce companies, almost 40 percent of the surveyed companies were affected by the rising shipping costs or logistics interruption. Order cancellation was another major issue facing these companies.