SMEs account for 99% of all enterprises in Europe.

Omissions

• The precise Eurostat figure is 99.8% of EU enterprises in 2023 (33.1 million enterprises), slightly higher than the 99% stated; the difference (0.8 percentage points) is within standard rounding tolerance and the 99% figure is the Commission's own headline approximation.
• The share is expressed as a proportion of the number of enterprises; SMEs account for a much smaller share of turnover and value added, and the claim does not address employment (SMEs provide roughly 85-90 million jobs in the EU).

Sources

• PrimaryEuropean Commission - Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs'99% of European businesses are SMEs. They provide jobs to more than 85 million European citizens. SMEs are at the heart of innovation and entrepreneurship.'
• PrimaryEurostat - Structural business statistics overview'33.1 million enterprises were active in the EU in 2023, employing 162.2 million persons. Of that total, 99.8% were small and medium-sized enterprises.'
• PrimaryEurostat news - Micro & small businesses make up 99% of enterprises in the EU'In 2022, the EU had 32.3 million enterprises, employing 160 million persons. Of that total, 99% were micro and small enterprises employing up to 49 persons.'
• SecondaryEuropean Parliament - Fact Sheets on the European Union: Small and medium-sized enterprises'SMEs account for 99.8% of all businesses in the EU. According to the most recent figures, EU SMEs employed around 89.8 million people in ...'