EU regions (NUTS 2) by active enterprises, 2023

Ile-de-France had the highest active enterprises of 233 regions in 2023, at 1.19 million. Ceuta had the lowest, at 3,550. The median was 93,492 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 33.31 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest1,187,051Ile-de-France

Lowest3,550Ceuta

Median93,492233 regions

European Union (27)33,311,582History

Top 40 regions, 2023

count. Source: Eurostat, Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	Regions	2023 count	Change on 2022
1	Ile-de-France	1,187,051	+2.1%
2	Lombardia	862,359	+1.2%
3	Catalonia	648,982	+0.7%
4	Rhône-Alpes	584,523	+1.2%
5	Andalusia	574,769	+0.6%
6	Community of Madrid	553,293	+0.8%
7	Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur	537,269	+2.4%
8	Zuid-Holland	505,170	+5.9%
9	Noord-Holland	482,952	+4.4%
10	Lazio	473,293	+0.8%
11	Norte	459,822	+4.6%
12	Veneto	403,644	+1.1%
13	Warszawski stołeczny	400,920	+5.9%
14	Valencian Community	391,856	+0.9%
15	Campania	378,144	+1.2%
16	Emilia-Romagna	374,319	+0.7%
17	Attiki	363,872	+2.5%
18	Grande Lisboa	356,570	+7%
19	Piemonte	336,006	+0.5%
20	Toscana	329,755	+0.4%
21	Noord-Brabant	329,053	+3.8%
22	Praha	326,833	+3.6%
23	Aquitaine	321,313	+1.7%
24	Sicilia	293,297	+0.6%
25	Śląskie	287,427	+1.6%
26	Wielkopolskie	283,196	+2.4%
27	Małopolskie	272,660	+3.8%
28	Puglia	268,635	+0.5%
29	Stockholm	266,443	+1.6%
30	Languedoc-Roussillon	264,685	+2.3%
31	Midi-Pyrénées	260,375	+0.9%
32	Gelderland	257,706	+4.1%
33	Pays de la Loire	254,896	+1.7%
34	Budapest	245,891	-9.2%
35	Oberbayern	243,560	+1.6%
36	Bretagne	234,522	+1.8%
37	Dolnośląskie	222,760	+2.7%
38	Nord-Pas de Calais	220,693	+2.1%
39	Bucureşti-Ilfov	215,028	+7.3%
40	Vidurio ir vakarų Lietuvos regionas	212,837	+6.1%
41	Eastern and Midland	209,624	+3.9%
42	Západné Slovensko	204,341	+3.9%
43	Düsseldorf	202,963	+0.8%
44	Centro (PT)	202,114	+4.1%
45	Jihovýchod	201,782	+1.9%
46	Utrecht	200,842	+4.4%
47	Galicia	197,228	-0.8%
48	Pomorskie	190,541	+3.6%
49	Köln	181,536	+1%
50	Darmstadt	173,264	+0.8%
51	Helsinki-Uusimaa	170,958	+3.4%
52	Berlin	170,919	+1.1%
53	Střední Čechy	167,850	+2.6%
54	Västsverige	167,046	+3.6%
55	Yugozapaden	165,923	+2.4%
56	Eesti	165,163	+7.3%
57	Severovýchod	161,505	+1.7%
58	Łódzkie	160,730	+1.4%
59	Nord-Vest	160,680	+4.2%
60	Centre - Val de Loire	157,073	+1.1%
61	Stuttgart	156,559	+0.7%
62	Východné Slovensko	156,415	+4.7%
63	Bratislavský kraj	155,001	+6.3%
64	Canary Islands	154,861	+1.5%
65	Castile and León	154,740	-1%
66	Kentriki Makedonia	149,246	+1.4%
67	Stredné Slovensko	148,462	+3.2%
68	Latvija	146,256	+0.6%
69	Sostinės regionas	144,886	+12.6%
70	Basque Country	144,812	+0.8%
71	Wien	144,099	+3.1%
72	Pest	141,582	-8.3%
73	Hovedstaden	139,918	+1.1%
74	Alsace	134,025	+1.4%
75	Centru	133,657	+4.9%
76	Castilla-La Mancha	132,398	-0.6%
77	Jihozápad	128,978	+1.6%
78	Lorraine	128,854	+2.5%
79	Poitou-Charentes	128,850	+0.6%
80	Mazowiecki regionalny	128,515	+1.7%
81	Marche	128,099	-0%
82	Liguria	127,678	+0.5%
83	Nord-Est	126,866	+4.3%
84	Kujawsko-pomorskie	123,821	+1.6%
85	Overijssel	123,785	+4.2%
86	Střední Morava	123,598	+1.5%
87	Sydsverige	122,513	+3.9%
88	Southern	118,624	+2.9%
89	Zachodniopomorskie	118,200	+0.4%
90	Arnsberg	118,162	+0.6%
91	Zahodna Slovenija	117,943	+3.7%
92	Östra Mellansverige	117,093	+3.4%
93	Calabria	116,001	+0.9%
94	Moravskoslezsko	115,896	+2.3%
95	Sud-Muntenia	115,724	+3.7%
96	Limburg (NL)	114,662	+3.3%
97	Podkarpackie	113,697	+1.9%
98	Schleswig-Holstein	113,148	+0.6%
99	Lubelskie	113,054	+1.2%
100	Sardegna	111,802	+0.6%
101	Balearic Islands	109,660	+1.8%
102	Karlsruhe	108,982	+0.7%
103	Länsi-Suomi	107,194	+2.3%
104	Bourgogne	107,043	+1.1%
105	Niederösterreich	105,564	+3.7%
106	Sud-Est	102,872	+3.7%
107	Haute-Normandie	102,489	+2%
108	Abruzzo	101,173	+0.2%
109	Picardie	100,377	+2%
110	Region of Murcia	99,842	-0.1%
111	Észak-Alföld	98,645	-7%
112	Península de Setúbal	98,277	+8.1%
113	Dél-Alföld	97,143	-6.6%
114	Severozápad	96,637	+2.2%
115	Oeste e Vale do Tejo	95,587	+4.9%
116	Jadranska Hrvatska	95,391	+6.6%
117	Basse-Normandie	93,492	+1.5%
118	Vest	93,279	+4%
119	Auvergne	92,791	+0.2%
120	Közép-Dunántúl	92,098	-7%
121	Hamburg	91,932	+2%
122	Kýpros	90,964	+3.7%
123	Brandenburg	89,829	+0.4%
124	Freiburg	89,579	+1.2%
125	Weser-Ems	89,020	+1%
126	Aragon	88,965	-0%
127	Münster	88,930	+1.2%
128	Oberösterreich	88,688	+2.5%
129	Algarve	88,524	+9.2%
130	Nyugat-Dunántúl	88,268	-6%
131	Etelä-Suomi	86,492	+1.6%
132	Midtjylland	86,052	+0.5%
133	Pohjois- ja Itä-Suomi	85,283	+2.3%
134	Friuli-Venezia Giulia	85,074	+1.2%
135	Vzhodna Slovenija	84,111	+3.7%
136	Schwaben	80,173	+1.4%
137	Steiermark	79,898	+3.9%
138	Champagne-Ardenne	76,723	+1.2%
139	Warmińsko-mazurskie	76,121	+0.6%
140	Sud-Vest Oltenia	74,325	+5%
141	Tübingen	73,881	+1%
142	Detmold	73,843	+0.6%
143	Hannover	73,166	+0.8%
144	Friesland (NL)	73,162	+3.8%
145	Syddanmark	71,752	+0.4%
146	Yuzhen tsentralen	71,696	+2.8%
147	Rheinhessen-Pfalz	71,666	+0.6%
148	Franche-Comté	70,638	+1.4%
149	Dél-Dunántúl	70,203	-7.2%
150	Mittelfranken	69,623	+1.1%
151	Thüringen	69,226	-0.6%
152	Asturias	68,999	-1.2%
153	Umbria	68,606	+0.7%
154	Podlaskie	68,281	+2.6%
155	Extremadura	67,910	-0.5%
156	Észak-Magyarország	67,878	-7.4%
157	Świętokrzyskie	67,716	+0.9%
158	Grad Zagreb	67,348	+4.4%
159	Northern and Western	65,262	+2.9%
160	Lubuskie	65,120	+1.4%
161	Sachsen-Anhalt	63,068	-0.8%
162	Norra Mellansverige	61,500	+4.4%
163	Groningen	61,194	+3.9%
164	La Réunion	60,822	+4.7%
165	Småland med öarna	60,089	+3.6%
166	Kriti	59,613	+2.4%
167	Lüneburg	58,906	+1.3%
168	Tirol	58,579	+3.1%
169	Koblenz	56,526	+0.8%
170	Malta	56,436	+9.6%
171	Flevoland	56,001	+6.4%
172	Yugoiztochen	55,540	+2.6%
173	Dresden	55,503	-0.6%
174	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	54,481	-0.2%
175	Niederbayern	53,978	+1.5%
176	Opolskie	53,672	+1.2%
177	Thessalia	53,621	+0.4%
178	Drenthe	50,934	+2.9%
179	Unterfranken	50,757	+1.1%
180	Sjælland	50,311	+1.1%
181	Alentejo	50,101	+3.7%
182	Chemnitz	49,900	-0.8%
183	Severoiztochen	49,597	+2.6%
184	Luxembourg Series break	48,813	+8.4%
185	Limousin	48,341	+0.1%
186	Dytiki Elláda	47,429	+0.8%
187	Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano/Bozen	46,847	+1.3%
188	Notio Aigaio	45,612	+2.4%
189	Peloponnisos	45,571	+0.5%
190	Salzburg	44,580	+2.9%
191	Navarre	43,783	+0.4%
192	Braunschweig	43,548	+0.8%
193	Oberpfalz	43,180	+1.7%
194	Martinique	43,005	+5.2%
195	Provincia Autonoma di Trento	42,621	+2.1%
196	Zeeland	42,349	+3.9%
197	Kassel	40,490	+0.8%
198	Cantabria	40,384	0%
199	Corse	39,816	+2.6%
200	Panonska Hrvatska	39,005	+6.8%
201	Sjeverna Hrvatska	38,940	+5.5%
202	Oberfranken	38,674	+0.9%
203	Leipzig	38,399	+0.7%
204	Anatoliki Makedonia, Thraki	38,354	+0.2%
205	Sterea Elláda	37,838	+0.6%
206	Gießen	37,291	+0.3%
207	Kärnten	36,771	+3.5%
208	Basilicata	36,679	+1.1%
209	Övre Norrland	36,619	+3.9%
210	Nordjylland	35,128	+0.5%
211	Saarland	34,720	-0.2%
212	Severen tsentralen	34,410	+2.7%
213	Guadeloupe	33,764	+4.9%
214	Mellersta Norrland	29,750	+3.6%
215	Ionia Nisia	29,547	+1.6%
216	Região Autónoma da Madeira	29,403	+6.6%
217	Severozapaden	27,091	+2.4%
218	Vorarlberg	26,409	+2.2%
219	Ipeiros	26,369	+0.2%
220	Região Autónoma dos Açores	24,512	+5.3%
221	Bremen	22,861	+0.7%
222	La Rioja	22,502	-1%
223	Molise	21,418	+0.2%
224	Dytiki Makedonia	18,911	0%
225	Trier	18,504	+0.9%
226	Burgenland	18,175	+3.6%
227	Voreio Aigaio	16,534	+0.2%
228	Valle d’Aosta/Vallée d’Aoste	11,436	+2%
229	Guyane	11,086	+4.4%
230	Melilla	4,751	-2.2%
231	Åland	3,815	+3.3%
232	Mayotte	3,568	+81.1%
233	Ceuta	3,550	-3%

Other periods

2023
2022
2021

About this ranking

Enterprises that had turnover or employment at any time during the year, with or without employees.

Counts enterprises, which can run several local units, under the harmonised Eurostat and OECD business demography rules. Not the same as active_companies (the INE business register count for Spain) or employer_firms (US firms with employees). For the UK it counts every enterprise active at some point in the year, so it differs from registered_enterprises_total (UK Business Counts), a snapshot of the register in March.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the regions are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Eurostat. Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Eurostat, European Commission. (2026). Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r) (EU regions (NUTS 2) by active enterprises, 2023) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table

MLA 9

Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r), EU regions (NUTS 2) by active enterprises, 2023. Eurostat, European Commission, 13 Mar. 2026, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/eu-regions. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r). EU regions (NUTS 2) by active enterprises, 2023. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/eu-regions.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r), EU regions (NUTS 2) by active enterprises, 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/eu-regions (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_regions_nuts_2_2023,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd\_size\_r): EU regions (NUTS 2) by active enterprises, 2023}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/eu-regions. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd\_size\_r). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd\_size\_r/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - Eurostat, European Commission
TI  - Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r): EU regions (NUTS 2) by active enterprises, 2023
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/03/13
PB  - Eurostat, European Commission
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/eu-regions
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/eu-regions.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which region has the highest active enterprises?

Ile-de-France, with 1.19 million in 2023, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which region has the lowest active enterprises?

Ceuta, with 3,550 in 2023.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Eurostat, European Commission, Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r). Retrieved 2026-10-12.