Small and medium-sized businesses in European countries

Programs and infrastructure supporting small businesses and the development of digital skills in European countries are highly effective.

According to Eurostat data, Germany is the leader in terms of small business development indicators such as the number of people employed in small and medium-sized businesses and the total turnover of SMEs.

At the same time, Italy ranks first in terms of the total number of companies, surpassing Germany by more than 1.5 times (3.7 million companies compared to 2.4 million in Germany).

France, which ranks third in Europe in terms of small business turnover and second after Italy in terms of the number of companies, shows a similar model of small business development to Italy. The UK, like Germany, is characterised by a smaller number of companies but high turnover.

The characteristics of the national economy play an important role. The European leaders in terms of small and medium-sized business turnover in mineral extraction are Italy (many small deposits, often depleted and unprofitable for large-scale industry) and Norway (oil, gas, polymetals).

The UK is the leader in terms of turnover of small and medium-sized businesses in the construction industry, as well as in high-tech industries: information and telecommunications services, research and development services.

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Overall, the key industry in which small and medium-sized businesses have the greatest potential for development is trade. But it is also important to support such promising areas as manufacturing, construction, and, especially, science and engineering.

Micro-enterprises with up to 10 employees are the main employers in European small and medium-sized businesses. The number of people employed in these companies is close to the number of employees in large companies.

Economic efficiency is an important factor determining the significant share of micro-enterprises with up to 10 employees in the European economy. In terms of gross profitability before personnel costs (the ratio of value added at factor cost to turnover), micro-enterprises with up to 10 employees are in the lead.

Given that a significant proportion of these micro-enterprises are, in fact, the workplaces of their owners, the positive role of small and medium-sized businesses for the economies of European countries as a whole is obvious.