Half of global GDP comes from small and medium-sized enterprises
In Italy, those with less than 50 employees number 4.4 million and employ 11 million people
3' min read
3' min read
Three hundred and fifty-one million. An enormous mass, that of the SMEs scattered around the world, an often forgotten engine of the global economy and almost always outclassed in the daily news by the biggies. Whether they are big tech or automotive giants, defence or microprocessor giants, it is almost always they who monopolise the headlines and the collective attention. Since 2017, however, since the establishment of World SME Day, the UN General Assembly has decided to give a signal, trying to turn the spotlight on this 'unbranded' but nevertheless crucial world, both in terms of employment and development, as well as in terms of getting closer to the ESG goals.
India, Indonesia and Nigeria on the world podium
The latest census carried out by the International Finance Corporation + Sme Finance Forum, dating back to 2019, sees some of the world's largest countries in terms of population at the top of the list in terms of absolute values: India (63 million), Indonesia (63) and Nigeria (37), the three nations on the podium in terms of the number of small companies, alone account for almost half of the world total. A panel, however, that has shifted widely downwards, bearing in mind that the set of Micro-Small-Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) analysed, which in terms of size ranges from 100, 250 (Europe) or 500 employees (USA), is 85% represented by the smallest realities, companies that are almost always single-employer. Estimates that are difficult to compose, taking into account the wide variability of classifications between countries, where the demarcation points between micro-small and medium-sized companies are not at all consistent.
At the level of macro-areas, in numerical terms it is obviously Asia that leads the way, with 75 million companies in the South and 102 million in East Asia+Pacific. Almost on a par are Europe (35 million) and North America (34), while the Middle East and North Africa stop at 10 million. The total mass of enterprises in the world is estimated to be worth 50% of GDP and over two thirds of global employment. Enterprises that, particularly in developing countries, lack the necessary resources to grow, estimated by Ifc at USD 5.7 trillion. That sounds like a monstrous figure, but when compared to the mass of companies, it actually translates into 16 thousand dollars per company.
33 million companies in Europe
Even looking at Europe, where thanks to Eurostat the statistics are standardised and the data from the various countries are perfectly comparable, the predominant role of SMEs is evident. According to the latest census carried out, there are in fact 33 million companies in this category, which employ 163 million people and have a total turnover of 38 trillion euros. Larger companies (over 249 employees) account for only 0.2% of the total, a mere 53 thousand companies. Yet they employ almost 60 million people, more than one third of the total workforce and generate half of the turnover, almost EUR 20 trillion. The bonsai plateau is also that of medium-sized companies (50-249 employees), which account for only 0.8% of the total, yet employ 15% of the workforce and generate 17% of turnover.
The vast majority, 99%, more than 32 million, are micro and small enterprises with less than 49 employees. These enterprises employ 49% of the workforce and account for one third of the total turnover.
