In 2023, there were estimated to be over ****** million companies operating worldwide, of which over *** million were in Asia, ** million were in Africa, and ** million were in Europe.

From 2000 to 2019, the United States had more Fortune 500 companies than any other country. In 2020, the U.S. was surpassed by China, where *** companies were reported, compared to *** U.S. companies. This is an impressive increase, as there were only ** Fortune 500 companies in China in 2000. In 2023, the number of top world companies ranked by revenue grew by *** in China, while in the U.S. there were ** more companies than in 2022.

There were approximately **** million micro-sized businesses that employed between zero and nine employees operating in the non-financial business economy of Italy in 2024, by far the most of any other country in the European Union.

Structural business statistics (SBS) describe the structure, conduct and performance of economic activities, down to the most detailed activity level (several hundred economic sectors).
The EU Member States transmit SBS annually to the European Commission (Eurostat) based on European legislation.
SBS covers all activities of the business economy with the exception of agricultural activities, public administration and largely non-market services such as education and health. The data is provided by all EU Member States, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, some candidate and potential candidate countries.
Most data is collected by National Statistical Institutes (NSIs) through statistical surveys, business registers or various administrative sources. Regulatory or controlling national offices for financial institutions or central banks often provide the information required for the financial sector (NACE Rev 2 Section K).
Member States apply various statistical methods - such as grossing up, model based estimation or different forms of imputation - according to the data source to ensure the quality of SBS produced.

Main characteristics (variables) of the SBS data category:

• "Business Demographic" variables (e.g. Number of active enterprises)
• "Output related" variables (e.g. Net turnover, Value added)
• "Input related" variables: labour input (e.g. Employment, Hours worked); goods and services input (e.g. Purchases of goods and services); capital input (e.g. Gross investments)

All SBS characteristics are published on Eurostat’s website in tables. An example of the existent tables is presented below:

• Annual enterprise statistics broken down by size classes: SBS data is published by country and employment size class (0-9; 10-19; 20-49; 50-249; 250 persons employed or more), again broken down by detailed economic activity, group level (3-digits). Additional size classes 0-1 and 2-9 persons employed are available for NACE Rev 2 Sections F to J, L to N and P to R and divisions S95 and S96 only for variables "Number of active enterprises" and "Number of employees and self-employed persons". For trade (NACE Rev 2 Section G) a supplementary breakdown by size class of turnover is available.
• Annual enterprise statistics: SBS data is published by country and detailed economic activity (NACE Rev 2) class level (4-digits) and special aggregates.
• Annual/bi-annual business services statistics: "Net turnover by product" and "Net turnover by residence of client" are published by country and detailed down to NACE Rev 2 group level (3-digits). The statistics on “Net turnover by product” permit analysis of products' relative importance in the turnover, consistency of product level statistics and product specialisation. On the other hand, information on “Turnover by residence of client” enable analysis of the type and location of clients and client specialisation.
• Annual regional statistics: Three characteristics are published by NUTS-2 country regions and detailed on NACE Rev 2 division level (2-digits).

Starting from the reference year 2023, voluntary data in new size classes called Small-Mid Caps (i.e. 250-499 and 500 and more persons employed) of selected SBS variables are transmitted by Member States and published together with legal size classes in a new Eurostat table.

More information on the contents of different tables and the detail level and breakdowns required starting with the reference year 2021, is defined in Commission Regulation 2019/2152 (‘EBS Regulation’) and Regulation (EU) 2020/1197 (‘EBS General Implementing Act’) concerning European Business Statistics.

Several important derived indicators are generated in the form of ratios of certain monetary characteristics or per head values. A list with the available derived indicators is available in the Annexes.

Spain Number of Companies: Basque Country data was reported at 144,357.000 Unit in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 140,290.000 Unit for 2016. Spain Number of Companies: Basque Country data is updated yearly, averaging 154,206.000 Unit from Dec 1998 (Median) to 2017, with 20 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 175,303.000 Unit in 2007 and a record low of 140,290.000 Unit in 2016. Spain Number of Companies: Basque Country data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Statistics Institute. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Spain – Table ES.O014: Number of Companies: by Region.

The average for 2025 based on 174 countries was 64 points. The highest value was in Australia: 93 points and the lowest value was in North Korea: 5 points. The indicator is available from 1995 to 2025. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

This dataset provides values for TOTAL BUSINESSES REGISTERED NUMBER WB DATA.H reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

This pie chart displays companies per country using the aggregation count in Milwaukee. The data is about companies.

This pie chart displays companies per country using the aggregation count in Silkeborg. The data is about companies.

Global Number of Employees in Business Services Share by Country (Thousand Units (Persons)), 2023 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

As of 2020, Botswana had the highest new business density in Africa. The country recorded nearly ** new companies per 1,000 people. Cabo Verde had the second-highest new business density on the continent, with ** new registrations per 1,000 population. South Africa followed, with the proportion standing at **** new businesses per thousand people.

This bar chart displays companies by country using the aggregation count in Redmond. The data is about companies.

Abstract

The Future of Business Survey is a new source of information on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Launched in February 2016, the monthly survey - a partnership between Facebook, OECD, and The World Bank - provides a timely pulse on the economic environment in which businesses operate and who those businesses are to help inform decision-making at all levels and to deliver insights that can help businesses grow. The Future of Business Survey provides a perspective from newer and long-standing digitalized businesses and provides a unique window into a new mobilized economy.

Policymakers, researchers and businesses share a common interest in the environment in which SMEs operate, as well their outlook on the future, not least because young and innovative SMEs in particular are often an important source of considerable economic and employment growth. Better insights and timely information about SMEs improve our understanding of economic trends, and can provide new insights that can further stimulate and help these businesses grow.

To help provide these insights, Facebook, OECD and The World Bank have collaborated to develop a monthly survey that attempts to improve our understanding of SMEs in a timely and forward-looking manner. The three organizations share a desire to create new ways to hear from businesses and help them succeed in the emerging digitally-connected economy. The shared goal is to help policymakers, researchers, and businesses better understand business sentiment, and to leverage a digital platform to provide a unique source of information to complement existing indicators.

With more businesses leveraging online tools each day, the survey provides a lens into a new mobilized, digital economy and, in particular, insights on the actors: a relatively unmeasured community worthy of deeper consideration and considerable policy interest.

Geographic coverage

Argentina Australia Belgium Brazil Canada Colombia Egypt France Germany Ghana India Indonesia Ireland Israel Italy Kenya Mexico Nigeria Pakistan Philippines (the) Poland Portugal Russian Federation (the) South Africa Spain Taiwan Turkey United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the) United States of America (the) Viet Nam

Analysis unit

The study describes small and medium-sized enterprises.

Universe

The target population consists of SMEs that have an active Facebook business Page and include both newer and longer-standing businesses, spanning across a variety of sectors. With more businesses leveraging online tools each day, the survey provides a lens into a new mobilized, digital economy and, in particular, insights on the actors: a relatively unmeasured community worthy of deeper consideration and considerable policy interest.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Twice a year in over 97 countries, the Facebook Survey Team sends the Future of Business to admins and owners of Facebook-designated small business pages. When we share data from this survey, we anonymize responses to all survey questions and only share country-level data publicly. To achieve better representation of the broader small business population, we also weight our results based on known characteristics of the Facebook Page admin population.

A random sample of firms, representing the target population in each country, is selected to respond to the Future of Business Survey each month.

Mode of data collection

Internet [int]

Research instrument

The survey includes questions about perceptions of current and future economic activity, challenges, business characteristics and strategy. Custom modules include questions related to regulation, access to finance, digital payments, and digital skills. The full questionnaire is available for download.

Response rate

Response rates to online surveys vary widely depending on a number of factors including survey length, region, strength of the relationship with invitees, incentive mechanisms, invite copy, interest of respondents in the topic and survey design.

Note: Response rates are calculated as the number of respondents who completed the survey divided by the total number of SMEs invited.

Sampling error estimates

Any survey data is prone to several forms of error and biases that need to be considered to understand how closely the results reflect the intended population. In particular, the following components of the total survey error are noteworthy:

Sampling error is a natural characteristic of every survey based on samples and reflects the uncertainty in any survey result that is attributable to the fact that not the whole population is surveyed.

Other factors beyond sampling error that contribute to such potential differences are frame or coverage error (sampling frame of page owners does not include all relevant businesses but also may include individuals that don't represent businesses), and nonresponse error.

Note that the sample is meant to reflect the population of businesses on Facebook, not the population of small businesses in general. This group of digitized SMEs is itself a community worthy of deeper consideration and of considerable policy interest. However, care should be taken when extrapolating to the population of SMEs in general. Moreover, future work should evaluate the external validity of the sample. Particularly, respondents should be compared to the broader population of SMEs on Facebook, and the economy as a whole.

HitHorizons gives access to aggregated company data on 80M+ companies from the whole of Europe and beyond.

Company registration data: company name national identifier and its type registered address: street, postal code, city, state / province, country business activity: SIC code, local activity code with classification system year of establishment company type location type

Sales and number of employees data: sales in EUR, USD and local currency (with local currency code) total number of employees sales and number of employees accuracy local number of employees (in case of multiple branches) companies’ sales and number of employees market position compared to other companies in a country / industry / region

Industry data: size of the whole industry size of all companies operating within a particular SIC code benchmarking within a particular country or industry regional benchmarking (EU 27, state / province)

Contact details: company website company email domain (without person’s name)

Invoicing details available for selected countries: company name company address company VAT number

The average for 2019 based on 43 countries was 3.38 percent of per capita GNI. The highest value was in Italy: 13.8 percent of per capita GNI and the lowest value was in Slovenia: 0 percent of per capita GNI. The indicator is available from 2003 to 2019. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Explore the World Competitiveness Ranking dataset for 2016, including key indicators such as GDP per capita, fixed telephone tariffs, and pension funding. Discover insights on social cohesion, scientific research, and digital transformation in various countries.

Social cohesion, The image abroad of your country encourages business development, Scientific articles published by origin of author, International Telecommunication Union, World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database, Data reproduced with the kind permission of ITU, National sources, Fixed telephone tariffs, GDP (PPP) per capita, Overall, Exports of goods - growth, Pension funding is adequately addressed for the future, Companies are very good at using big data and analytics to support decision-making, Gross fixed capital formation - real growth, Economic Performance, Scientific research legislation, Percentage of GDP, Health infrastructure meets the needs of society, Estimates based on preliminary data for the most recent year., Singapore: including re-exports., Value, Laws relating to scientific research do encourage innovation, % of GDP, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Health Infrastructure, Digital transformation in companies is generally well understood, Industrial disputes, EE, Female / male ratio, State ownership of enterprises, Total expenditure on R&D (%), Score, Colombia, Estimates for the most recent year., Percentage change, based on US$ values, Number of listed domestic companies, Tax evasion is not a threat to your economy, Scientific articles, Tax evasion, % change, Use of big data and analytics, National sources, Disposable Income, Equal opportunity, Listed domestic companies, Government budget surplus/deficit (%), Pension funding, US$ per capita at purchasing power parity, Estimates; US$ per capita at purchasing power parity, Image abroad or branding, Equal opportunity legislation in your economy encourages economic development, Number, Article counts are from a selection of journals, books, and conference proceedings in S&E from Scopus. Articles are classified by their year of publication and are assigned to a region/country/economy on the basis of the institutional address(es) listed in the article. Articles are credited on a fractional-count basis. The sum of the countries/economies may not add to the world total because of rounding. Some publications have incomplete address information for coauthored publications in the Scopus database. The unassigned category count is the sum of fractional counts for publications that cannot be assigned to a country or economy. Hong Kong: research output items by the higher education institutions funded by the University Grants Committee only., State ownership of enterprises is not a threat to business activities, Protectionism does not impair the conduct of your business, Digital transformation in companies, Total final energy consumption per capita, Social cohesion is high, Rank, MTOE per capita, Percentage change, based on constant prices, US$ billions, National sources, World Trade Organization Statistics database, Rank, Score, Value, World Rankings

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Venezuela

Follow data.kapsarc.org for timely data to advance energy economics research.

This pie chart displays companies per country using the aggregation count in Roztoky. The data is about companies.

This bar chart displays companies by country using the aggregation count in Edmond. The data is about companies.

This pie chart displays companies per country using the aggregation count. The data is filtered where the sector is Communication Services. The data is about companies.

India Number of Registered Company data was reported at 1,171,230.000 Unit in 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1,172,583.000 Unit for 2017. India Number of Registered Company data is updated yearly, averaging 152,036.000 Unit from Mar 1957 (Median) to 2018, with 62 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,172,583.000 Unit in 2017 and a record low of 26,682.000 Unit in 1962. India Number of Registered Company data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The data is categorized under Global Database’s India – Table IN.OC001: Registered Company: At Work.