SME Data

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the Austrian economy: 99.6 % of all enterprises are SMEs. These 358,400 companies employ more than 2 million people and generate revenues of € 521 billion.

	SME 20191	Share in all companies
Number of companies	358,400	99.6 %
Persons employed	2,072,800	67 %
Employees	1,734,300	63 %
Turnover	€ 521 billion	62 %
Value added	€ 137 billion	61 %
	Balance sheet ratios 2019/202
Equity ratio	34 %
Return on sales (after financial result)	5.0 %

¹companies of the market-oriented economy (ÖNACE 2008 sections B – N and division 95); rounded values
²market-oriented economy excl. real estate and holdings
Sources: Statistics Austria, Austrian Institute for SME research

 

SME data for selected industries:

 

 

SME definition:

In Austria, the European Commission’s definition of SMEs applies. The European Commission has defined the following for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs):

Note: The values shown apply from 1 January 2005 and represent maximum limits. 
In general, most SMEs are autonomous, i.e. they are either completely independent or have partnerships with other companies with one or more minority holdings (each less than 25% each). If that holding is higher but does not exceed 50%, the relationship is deemed to be between partner enterprises. 

Source: European Commission

For further information: User guide to the SME definition

As particularly structural data from official statistics are only available based on employee categories, a considerable amount of data is classified only by the number of employees. 

 

Statistical resources:

In Austria, there are two large providers of structural data on SMEs, whereby in both cases only the employee criterion is used.

Statistics Austria publishes annual data on the Austrian business landscape in its Structural Business Statistics. Data classified by the number of employees as well as ÖNACE 2008 industries can be queried via the following link: to Statistics Austria

Within the framework of employment statistics, the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber publishes data on companies classified by company size according to the chamber classification. Further statistics regarding SMEs in Austria can be obtained via the following link (only available in German): to the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber

 

Publications:

The following two publications are regularly produced by the Austrian Institute for SME research and reflect the SME landscape in Austria: 

The report “KMU im Fokus” (SME report) is produced on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs (BMDW) and is published regularly (only available in German): report “KMU im Fokus”

The publication Wirtschaftskraft KMU (Economic strength of Austrian SMEs) is commissioned by the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber and is published once a year (only available in German):  Wirtschaftskraft KMU