Database of Companies in Germany: Top Industries and Biggest Players

Mostly proprietorships and especially in services

Less than half of all companies (49.46%) have a legal form of a proprietorship and 32.2% of companies are corporations. NGOs make up 9.35% of all companies in Germany. The remaining less than 10% are entities with an unknown legal form (government institutions or joint ventures).

The most represented industries among corporations are services (38.1%), finance / insurance / real estate (22.1%), and construction (8.8%). Among proprietorships, most companies operate in services (48.9%), while retail trade and construction represent 21.5% and 10.6% respectively.

When it comes to SIC Codes, most corporations operate in management services (174,393), as real estate agent / manager (164,819), and as holding companies (149,200). Most proprietorships operate as eating places (145,677), health practitioner's offices ( 126,127), and business services (105,831).

In terms of individual industries across all legal forms, most entities work in services (51.21%), retail trade (13.75%), and finance / insurance / real estate (10.66%); 75.62% of all companies operate in these three sectors. Despite the fact that only 4.32% of companies operate in manufacturing, this industry accounts for the majority of sales of all companies in Germany (share of 27.51%). Second is finance, insurance and real estate with a share of 22.29% and third are services with a share of 16.52%.

In terms of specific economic activities (SIC Codes), most companies operate as real estate agents / managers (222,673) - this represents more than 4% of all companies. 3.65% of companies do business in civil / social association and 3.56% of companies in management services. A total of 31.43% of all German companies operate in the top 10 SIC Codes.

The highest number of companies are based in the state of Nord-Westfalen. When it comes to cities, Berlin has the highest number of registered entities.

The highest number of companies are located in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (almost 20% of all companies, which is more than a million companies in absolute terms). The state of Bavaria is second (18.41%; 966 thousand companies). The state of Baden-Württemberg is third (12.86%; 675 thousand companies). More than 68% of companies operate in the five states with the highest number of companies.

It is interesting to look at the states which used to be part of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). More precisely, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Brandenburg. Berlin was divided into 2 parts so we excluded it from this comparison. These 5 states have the lowest number of companies. This is similar to states like Bremen, Saarland, and Hamburg which used to be part of West Germany but are some of the smallest states in terms of the area they occupy. Statistics are similar when it comes to sales and number of employees within these 5 states. Companies registered in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Brandenburg generate just 5.6% of all sales and employ just 9.3% of all employees in the country.

In terms of the number of companies in individual cities, Berlin is first with 4.94% of all entities. Hamburg is second (3.05%) and Munich is third (2.54%). More than 17% of all companies are registered in the top ten cities.

The largest companies in terms of sales operate in manufacturing and especially in car manufacturing. The list of top 15 German companies has four automakers and three manufacturing companies. There is also a parent telecommunications company and parent companies of grocery store chains. Volkswagen has the highest sales at EUR 222B a year. Annual sales generated by all of the 5.25M+ German companies are 11.6 trillion euros. Top 15 companies account for 11.28%.

Top 15 employers include 7 companies from manufacturing, the German Railways (Deutsche Bahn AG), a telecommunications company, and chains of grocery stores. The largest employer is Volkswagen with 665,000 people.

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