With a market capitalization of 3.12 trillion U.S. dollars as of May 2024, Microsoft was the world’s largest company that year. Rounding out the top five were some of the world’s most recognizable brands: Apple, NVIDIA, Google’s parent company Alphabet, and Amazon. Saudi Aramco led the ranking of the world's most profitable companies in 2023, with a pre-tax income of nearly 250 billion U.S. dollars. How are market value and market capitalization determined? Market value and market capitalization are two terms frequently used – and confused - when discussing the profitability and viability of companies. Strictly speaking, market capitalization (or market cap) is the worth of a company based on the total value of all their shares; an important metric when determining the comparative value of companies for trading opportunities. Accordingly, many stock exchanges such as the New York or London Stock Exchange release market capitalization data on their listed companies. On the other hand, market value technically refers to what a company is worth in a much broader context. It is determined by multiple factors, including profitability, corporate debt, and the market environment as a whole. In this sense it aims to estimate the overall value of a company, with share price only being one element. Market value is therefore useful for determining whether a company’s shares are over- or undervalued, and in arriving at a price if the company is to be sold. Such valuations are generally made on a case-by-case basis though, and not regularly reported. For this reason, market capitalization is often reported as market value. What are the top companies in the world? The answer to this question depends on the metric used. Although the largest company by market capitalization, Microsoft's global revenue did not manage to crack the top 20 companies. Rather, American multinational retailer Walmart was ranked as the largest company in the world by revenue. Walmart also had the highest number of employees in the world.

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the largest stock exchange in the world, with an equity market capitalization of almost ** trillion U.S. dollars as of June 2025. The following three exchanges were the NASDAQ, PINK Exchange, and the Frankfurt Exchange. What is a stock exchange? A stock exchange is a marketplace where stockbrokers, traders, buyers, and sellers can trade in equities products. The largest exchanges have thousands of listed companies. These companies sell shares of their business, giving the general public the opportunity to invest in them. The oldest stock exchange worldwide is the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, founded in the late sixteenth century. Other functions of a stock exchange Since these are publicly traded companies, every firm listed on a stock exchange has had an initial public offering (IPO). The largest IPOs can raise billions of dollars in equity for the firm involved. Related to stock exchanges are derivatives exchanges, where stock options, futures contracts, and other derivatives can be traded.

In 1989, the Industrial Bank of Japan had a market capitalization of approximately 104.29 billion U.S dollars, making it the largest company in the world at the time. Six of the ten largest companies worldwide in 1989 were based in Japan while the remaining four were American, highlighting the economic dominance of these two countries in the late 1980s.

The average for 2022 based on 74 countries was 1244.55 billion U.S. dollars. The highest value was in the USA: 40297.98 billion U.S. dollars and the lowest value was in Bermuda: 0.21 billion U.S. dollars. The indicator is available from 1975 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

In 2009, Ecxxon Mobil Corp had a market capitalization of approximately ****** billion U.S dollars, making it the largest company in the world at the time. Five of the ten largest companies worldwide in 2009 were based in the United States, with three from Europe and two from China.

Discover the largest beer markets in the world. From China to Germany, explore the countries with the strongest beer cultures and iconic beer brands. Read on for insights and interesting facts about the global beer industry.

Discover why Asia is the world's largest skincare market with over 50% of global sales and what factors are contributing to its growth, from a cultural emphasis on beauty to the rise of e-commerce and demand for natural and organic products.

In 2025, stock markets in the United States accounted for roughly ** percent of world stocks. The next largest country by stock market share was China, followed by the European Union as a whole. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the NASDAQ are the largest stock exchange operators worldwide. What is a stock exchange? The first modern publicly traded company was the Dutch East Industry Company, which sold shares to the general public to fund expeditions to Asia. Since then, groups of companies have formed exchanges in which brokers and dealers can come together and make transactions in one space. Stock market indices group companies trading on a given exchange, giving an idea of how they evolve in real time. Appeal of stock ownership Over half of adults in the United States are investing money in the stock market. Stocks are an attractive investment because the possible return is higher than offered by other financial instruments.

Reliance Industries topped the 2023 ranking of the conglomerates with the highest market value worldwide. The conglomerate beat out major players such as Danaher, Honeywell International, 3M, Raytheon Technologies, and Siemens. Rise of Asian conglomerates European and U.S. companies remained dominant in the 2023 ranking, but Asian conglomerates are on the rise. Reliance Industries of India was the leading publicly traded Asian conglomerate in terms of market value, based on closing prices as of May 5, 2023. CK Hutchinson of Hong Kong made this year's ranking. For many years, this company had been managed by Sir Li Ka-shing, who is the **** richest individual in the world. CK Hutchison is the parent company of the Hutchison Asia Telecom Group, Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings, A.S. Watson Group, Husky Energy, and Hutchison Port Holdings, one of the largest marine terminal operators globally. Softbank, LG Chem, Itochu, and Mitsui were among the Asian conglomerates that made it into the top 20.

Discover the top 5 global beauty markets based on revenue generated, including the USA, China, Japan, South Korea, and Brazil, with a combined market size of around $200 billion dollars. Learn about each market's unique drivers and characteristics in the constantly evolving beauty industry.

Learn about Xinjiang Joinworld Co., Ltd., the world's largest ceramic company. Discover their wide range of ceramic products, extensive research and development activities, and adherence to rigorous quality control procedures. Read about their commitment to corporate social responsibility and sustainable development.

The market capitalization of companies in the United States was almost six times than that of China as of June 2025, making up a large share of the world's total market capitalization. Listed companies in the U.S. had a total market capitalization of nearly ** trillion U.S. dollars - against ** trillion U.S. dollars recorded by China. Japan followed as the next country in the ranking of nearly ***** trillion U.S. dollars.

The global big data analytics market size was valued at $307.52 billion in 2023 & is projected to grow from $348.21 billion in 2024 to $961.89 billion by 2032

Discover the largest beauty markets in the world worth billions of dollars, including the US, China, Japan, UK, and Brazil. Learn about the popular stores and evolving trends driving the beauty industry's growth.

Check out the world's top 10 largest aluminum producers of 2019, including China Hongqiao Group Limited, United Company RUSAL, Rio Tinto Group, and more. Discover their production numbers and geographic presence, and learn about the importance of aluminum in different industries.

Explore the top import markets for data storage devices in the world, including China, United States, and more. Learn about the key statistics and trends shaping the global market for data storage solutions.

Northern Virginia was by far the world’s largest data center market by total inventory as of the first quarter of 2024. The region had a reported inventory of over ***** MW, which was more than twice that of London, the second-largest market. Northern Virginia remains the world’s most important data center market The Northern Virginia region has established a remarkable position as a data center hub. Data center facilities cluster around Loudon, Prince William, and Fairfax counties, with operators keen to locate close to east coast metropolitan areas and key subsea cables. Vacancy rates in such facilities are notably low, reflecting the continued demand for capacity in the region. However, new rules and standards could see a slowdown in construction moving forward. In addition, while Northern Virginia is not the world’s most expensive market for data center construction, considerably lower construction costs in alternative North American markets could prompt investors to reassess. London is the largest of Europe’s FLAPD markets Europe’s leading data center hubs are often collectively referred to as the FLAPD market, standing for Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin. These markets are driving forwards a European data center industry forecast to generate almost ** billion euros in 2024, with newly adopted European Union sustainability reporting requirements set to dominate the agenda.

Chile is the world's largest copper producing country. It is renowned globally for being home to the largest copper reserves and the highest copper production. The country's copper mining industry plays a significant role in its economy and has been a major source of revenue for many decades.

As of May 2025, Amazon was the biggest internet company worldwide with a market cap of over ************ U.S. dollars Second-ranked Alphabet had a market capitalization of **** trillion U.S. dollars. The end of the 1990s in the United States saw the rise of a great number of internet companies, also called online companies or a variety of the name “dot com,” where the “.com” domain is derived from the word commercial. At the time, such startups were merely riding the wave of early internet business, but had little capital and perhaps one good idea. Few companies have survived the burst of the dot com bubble and even fewer have managed to become internationally successful. A few notable exceptions are American companies such as Google (founded in 1998), Amazon (founded in 1994) or eBay Inc. (founded in 1995), and the Chinese online giant Alibaba (founded in 1998), which have come to be some of the largest internet companies in the world. One of the largest internet companies worldwide is currently Alphabet, the parent company of Google, with a market capitalization of **** trillion U.S. dollars as of May 2025. Having started as a PhD project at Stanford University, the Google project slowly gained traction and is now the number one search engine in the world, with a market share of ** percent on the search engine market. Due to a number of high profile acquisitions, Google has expanded its portfolio beyond search, to include the video content sharing site YouTube, the digital app platform Google Play Store, the webmail service Gmail and the web browser Google Chrome, to only name a few. In October 2015, Google reorganized itself into a newly created parent company, the multinational conglomerate Alphabet Inc. The biggest internet companies in terms of their workforce are currently Amazon, Alphabet and Meta.

The average for 2021 based on 87 countries was 32.21 percent. The highest value was in Venezuela: 991.39 percent and the lowest value was in Botswana: -6.38 percent. The indicator is available from 1984 to 2021. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.