More than 700,000 EU companies benefit from trade, and over 80% of them are SMEs.
70% confidence
EconomyEuropean Union
Omissions
The 'more than 700,000 companies' figure is corroborated by secondary sources citing Eurostat enterprise-characteristics data from around 2017–2022 ('almost 700,000' / 'only 700,000 exporting outside the bloc'); the most recent Eurostat 2024 enterprise-level count of exporting firms was not directly located in the searches, so the exact current number remains unverified.
The ~38 million jobs figure (recent Commission analysis) covers ALL jobs supported by EU exports, including those linked to large enterprises and indirect supply-chain effects. Jobs depending specifically on EU SME exports were about 13 million (37% of export-supported jobs) according to the Commission's 2020 data, so attributing 'more than 30 million jobs' specifically to SMEs is not supported by the SME-specific figure.
The real SME share of EU exporting enterprises (about 95–98% per Eurostat) is higher than the claimed 'over 80%', so the bound holds but understates the actual share.
No primary source directly confirming the exact 'more than 700,000' count for the most recent period was found in the searches.
Sources
PrimaryEurostat — International trade in goods by enterprise characteristics (Statistics Explained)In 2024, SMEs represented 95.1% of enterprises engaged in extra-EU imports but accounted for only 38.6% of the value of imports. By contrast, large enterprises … (SMEs account for the overwhelming majority — roughly 95–98% — of EU enterprises engaged in international trade, consistent with the claim that 'over 80%' of exporting companies are SMEs).