90 million European citizens currently work in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the European Union.

Omissions

• Eurostat does not publish a single headline 'SME employment' figure; the ~100 million estimate is derived from the 63.5% SME share of the business-economy workforce applied to the 164.2 million people employed in EU enterprises in 2024.
• The exact figure depends on the SME definition and the sectoral scope: the Eurostat business-economy data exclude agriculture, public administration, education and health, and different official sources cite figures ranging roughly from 85 to 100 million, so a figure of '90 million' is not entirely out of range.
• Data reference years are 2023-2024, the most recent available before the session date of 2026-09-16.

Sources

• PrimaryEurostat — Micro & small businesses make up 99% of enterprises in the EUMicro and small enterprises employed 77.5 million persons, i.e. almost half (48%) of the total number of all persons employed in enterprises.
• PrimaryEurostat — Structural business statistics overview (Statistics Explained)Almost two-thirds (63.5%) of the EU's business economy workforce was employed in an SME in 2023.
• PrimaryEurostat — Large businesses in the EU: small number, high turnoverIn 2024, the EU had around 33.5 million enterprises, employing 164.2 million people.