Micro-enterprises, as well as small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), are considered as a driver of the EU economy, creating jobs and contributing to economic growth.On the occasion of the European SME Week from 16 to 22 November, which aims to promote entrepreneurship, Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, today publishes data on enterprises broken down by employment size classes, with a special focus on the importance of micro-enterprises in the EU business economy.
In 2012, of the 22.3 million enterprises in the EU’s non-financial business economy, an overwhelming majority (92.7%) were micro-enterprises (with 0 to 9 persons employed) accounting for 29.2% of employment, 7.1% were small and medium enterprises (with 10 to 249 persons employed) accounting for 38.0% of employment, and 0.2% were large enterprises (with 250 or more persons employed) accounting for 33.0% of persons employed. 2.3 million enterprises were created in 2012 across the EU. Most of them (70.8%) had no employees.
These sole-entrepreneurs represented 46.9% of all persons employed in newly-born enterprises. The SME Week brings together entrepreneurs, academia, policy making and media across Europe, to co-create innovative ways of cooperation and further develop EU SME policy. The Week culminates on Thursday and Friday with the SME Assembly and the European Entrepreneurship Promotion Awards (EEPA) ceremony where seven category winners will be announced and the Grand Jury prize awarded.
EU SME Envoy Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, will deliver a keynote speech at the SME Assembly on 19 November.
