EU regions (NUTS 2) by active enterprises

Ile-de-France had the highest active enterprises of 231 regions in 2021, at 1.1 million. Mayotte had the lowest, at 3,231. The median was 88,537 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 31.51 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest1,097,544Ile-de-France

Lowest3,231Mayotte

Median88,537231 regions

European Union (27)31,506,700History

Top 40 regions, 2021

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	2021 count	Change on 2020
1	Ile-de-France Series break	1,097,544	n/a
2	Lombardia Series break	826,474	n/a
3	Catalonia Series break	635,587	n/a
4	Andalusia Series break	555,801	n/a
5	Community of Madrid Series break	537,752	n/a
6	Rhône-Alpes Series break	532,731	n/a
7	Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Series break	487,297	n/a
8	Lazio Series break	452,523	n/a
9	Noord-Holland	430,472	n/a
10	Norte	410,607	n/a
11	Veneto Series break	391,920	n/a
12	Valencian Community Series break	378,484	n/a
13	Warszawski stołeczny	371,194	n/a
14	Emilia-Romagna Series break	365,411	n/a
15	Campania Series break	362,380	n/a
16	Attiki	336,576	n/a
17	Stockholm	334,123	n/a
18	Piemonte Series break	326,879	n/a
19	Toscana Series break	320,591	n/a
20	Grande Lisboa	305,387	n/a
21	Praha	304,824	n/a
22	Noord-Brabant	297,259	n/a
23	Aquitaine Series break	290,943	n/a
24	Śląskie	283,617	n/a
25	Sicilia Series break	282,916	n/a
26	Wielkopolskie	277,653	n/a
27	Budapest	265,669	n/a
28	Puglia Series break	261,253	n/a
29	Małopolskie	257,709	n/a
30	Languedoc-Roussillon Series break	239,449	n/a
31	Midi-Pyrénées Series break	237,508	n/a
32	Oberbayern	237,218	n/a
33	Gelderland	231,495	n/a
34	Pays de la Loire Series break	229,781	n/a
35	Dolnośląskie	213,562	n/a
36	Bretagne Series break	211,235	n/a
37	Nord-Pas de Calais Series break	201,730	n/a
38	Düsseldorf	199,251	n/a
39	Västsverige	198,303	n/a
40	Galicia Series break	196,675	n/a
41	Jihovýchod	191,534	n/a
42	Eastern and Midland	189,430	n/a
43	Bucureşti-Ilfov	185,947	n/a
44	Vidurio ir vakarų Lietuvos regionas	185,630	n/a
45	Západné Slovensko	185,363	n/a
46	Centro (PT)	184,053	n/a
47	Pomorskie	182,714	n/a
48	Köln	177,724	n/a
49	Darmstadt	169,719	n/a
50	Berlin	165,943	n/a
51	Helsinki-Uusimaa Series break	159,230	+2.1%
52	Łódzkie	159,169	n/a
53	Yugozapaden	157,481	n/a
54	Střední Čechy	157,340	n/a
55	Stuttgart	155,826	n/a
56	Castile and León Series break	155,555	n/a
57	Severovýchod	155,303	n/a
58	Nord-Vest	147,657	n/a
59	Pest	147,597	n/a
60	Canary Islands Series break	146,065	n/a
61	Sydsverige	144,916	n/a
62	Centre - Val de Loire Series break	143,373	n/a
63	Wien	142,334	n/a
64	Kentriki Makedonia	141,610	n/a
65	Basque Country Series break	141,543	n/a
66	Východné Slovensko	139,098	n/a
67	Latvija	138,359	n/a
68	Eesti Series break	136,867	n/a
69	Östra Mellansverige	136,430	n/a
70	Bratislavský kraj	135,595	n/a
71	Stredné Slovensko	135,073	n/a
72	Castilla-La Mancha Series break	130,885	n/a
73	Mazowiecki regionalny	127,241	n/a
74	Marche Series break	126,293	n/a
75	Liguria Series break	124,177	n/a
76	Jihozápad	123,790	n/a
77	Kujawsko-pomorskie	123,275	n/a
78	Alsace Series break	122,887	n/a
79	Centru	122,599	n/a
80	Zachodniopomorskie	120,572	n/a
81	Střední Morava	119,177	n/a
82	Lorraine Series break	118,187	n/a
83	Poitou-Charentes Series break	117,040	n/a
84	Arnsberg	116,911	n/a
85	Nord-Est	116,669	n/a
86	Sostinės regionas	114,556	n/a
87	Schleswig-Holstein	112,313	n/a
88	Calabria Series break	111,674	n/a
89	Overijssel	111,375	n/a
90	Lubelskie	110,853	n/a
91	Southern	110,220	n/a
92	Podkarpackie	109,928	n/a
93	Moravskoslezsko	109,705	n/a
94	Sud-Muntenia	108,474	n/a
95	Sardegna Series break	108,462	n/a
96	Zahodna Slovenija	108,409	n/a
97	Karlsruhe	108,043	n/a
98	Hovedstaden	106,601	n/a
99	Limburg (NL)	104,509	n/a
100	Észak-Alföld	103,578	n/a
101	Balearic Islands Series break	103,048	n/a
102	Niederösterreich	102,931	n/a
103	Länsi-Suomi Series break	102,026	+1.5%
104	Dél-Alföld	100,860	n/a
105	Region of Murcia Series break	98,533	n/a
106	Abruzzo Series break	98,485	n/a
107	Bourgogne Series break	98,002	n/a
108	Sud-Est	97,368	n/a
109	Közép-Dunántúl	95,823	n/a
110	Haute-Normandie Series break	93,430	n/a
111	Severozápad	92,437	n/a
112	Picardie Series break	91,459	n/a
113	Nyugat-Dunántúl	91,064	n/a
114	Hamburg	90,054	n/a
115	Brandenburg	89,169	n/a
116	Freiburg	88,537	n/a
117	Aragon Series break	88,382	n/a
118	Weser-Ems	87,687	n/a
119	Münster	87,449	n/a
120	Oberösterreich	86,887	n/a
121	Vest	86,397	n/a
122	Jadranska Hrvatska	85,798	n/a
123	Oeste e Vale do Tejo	85,290	n/a
124	Basse-Normandie Series break	85,275	n/a
125	Auvergne Series break	84,434	n/a
126	Etelä-Suomi Series break	83,258	+1.1%
127	Kýpros	83,062	n/a
128	Península de Setúbal	82,565	n/a
129	Friuli-Venezia Giulia Series break	82,493	n/a
130	Pohjois- ja Itä-Suomi Series break	81,064	+1.2%
131	Schwaben	77,966	n/a
132	Steiermark	77,370	n/a
133	Vzhodna Slovenija	77,246	n/a
134	Warmińsko-mazurskie	76,679	n/a
135	Detmold	73,227	n/a
136	Dél-Dunántúl	73,145	n/a
137	Tübingen	73,100	n/a
138	Hannover	71,972	n/a
139	Észak-Magyarország	71,851	n/a
140	Norra Mellansverige	71,254	n/a
141	Algarve	70,927	n/a
142	Champagne-Ardenne Series break	70,606	n/a
143	Rheinhessen-Pfalz	70,558	n/a
144	Småland med öarna	70,516	n/a
145	Thüringen	70,323	n/a
146	Sud-Vest Oltenia	69,306	n/a
147	Asturias Series break	69,230	n/a
148	Mittelfranken	68,412	n/a
149	Yuzhen tsentralen	67,561	n/a
150	Extremadura Series break	67,348	n/a
151	Świętokrzyskie	67,239	n/a
152	Umbria Series break	66,743	n/a
153	Friesland (NL)	66,405	n/a
154	Podlaskie	65,490	n/a
155	Lubuskie	65,004	n/a
156	Franche-Comté Series break	64,888	n/a
157	Sachsen-Anhalt	63,681	n/a
158	Midtjylland	63,268	n/a
159	Grad Zagreb	61,788	n/a
160	Northern and Western	60,464	n/a
161	Lüneburg	57,736	n/a
162	Tirol	57,145	n/a
163	Kriti	56,285	n/a
164	Dresden	55,808	n/a
165	Koblenz	55,557	n/a
166	Groningen	55,379	n/a
167	Syddanmark	54,789	n/a
168	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	54,647	n/a
169	Opolskie	53,271	n/a
170	Niederbayern	52,544	n/a
171	Malta Series break	52,095	n/a
172	La Réunion Series break	52,012	n/a
173	Yugoiztochen	51,962	n/a
174	Thessalia	51,893	n/a
175	Chemnitz	50,652	n/a
176	Unterfranken	49,833	n/a
177	Flevoland	48,173	n/a
178	Severoiztochen	46,786	n/a
179	Drenthe	46,777	n/a
180	Alentejo	45,904	n/a
181	Dytiki Elláda	45,818	n/a
182	Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano/Bozen Series break	45,010	n/a
183	Limousin Series break	44,612	n/a
184	Peloponnisos	43,924	n/a
185	Salzburg	43,708	n/a
186	Braunschweig	42,830	n/a
187	Oberpfalz	42,409	n/a
188	Notio Aigaio	42,209	n/a
189	Övre Norrland	42,050	n/a
190	Luxembourg	41,841	n/a
191	Provincia Autonoma di Trento Series break	40,858	n/a
192	Navarre Series break	40,361	n/a
193	Kassel	39,999	n/a
194	Sjælland	39,895	n/a
195	Cantabria Series break	39,609	n/a
196	Zeeland	38,305	n/a
197	Oberfranken	38,180	n/a
198	Leipzig	37,751	n/a
199	Anatoliki Makedonia, Thraki	37,386	n/a
200	Gießen	36,847	n/a
201	Sterea Elláda	36,673	n/a
202	Martinique Series break	35,985	n/a
203	Corse Series break	35,861	n/a
204	Kärnten	35,718	n/a
205	Basilicata Series break	35,492	n/a
206	Sjeverna Hrvatska	34,992	n/a
207	Panonska Hrvatska	34,975	n/a
208	Saarland	34,614	n/a
209	Mellersta Norrland	34,288	n/a
210	Severen tsentralen	32,588	n/a
211	Guadeloupe Series break	28,837	n/a
212	Ionia Nisia	27,779	n/a
213	Nordjylland	26,635	n/a
214	Vorarlberg	25,956	n/a
215	Severozapaden	25,708	n/a
216	Ipeiros	25,596	n/a
217	Região Autónoma da Madeira	25,294	n/a
218	Bremen	23,096	n/a
219	La Rioja Series break	22,679	n/a
220	Região Autónoma dos Açores	21,860	n/a
221	Molise Series break	21,108	n/a
222	Dytiki Makedonia	18,359	n/a
223	Trier	18,117	n/a
224	Burgenland	17,566	n/a
225	Voreio Aigaio	16,215	n/a
226	Valle d’Aosta/Vallée d’Aoste Series break	11,004	n/a
227	Guyane Series break	9,304	n/a
228	Melilla Series break	5,004	n/a
229	Ceuta Series break	3,707	n/a
230	Åland Series break	3,646	+2.8%
231	Mayotte Series break	3,231	n/a

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. 2 regions with data in other periods have no value for 2021 and are left out rather than filled from another source. 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, 2021) [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, 2021. 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?period=2021. 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, 2021. 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?period=2021.

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, 2021 [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?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_regions_nuts_2_2021,
  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, 2021}},
  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?period=2021. 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, 2021
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?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/eu-regions?period=2021.
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 1.1 million in 2021, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which region has the lowest active enterprises?

Mayotte, with 3,231 in 2021.

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. 2 regions have no value for 2021 and are not ranked.