NUTS 3 areas of Germany by active enterprises
Berlin had the highest active enterprises of 394 areas in 2021, at 165,943. Zweibrücken, Kreisfreie Stadt had the lowest, at 1,134. The median was 5,648 and the figure for Germany was 3.15 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.
Top 40 areas, 2021
Full ranking
Other periods
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 areas are compared on one definition. 6 areas 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
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) (NUTS 3 areas of Germany 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), NUTS 3 areas of Germany 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/germany-provinces?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). NUTS 3 areas of Germany 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/germany-provinces?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), NUTS 3 areas of Germany 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/germany-provinces?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_nuts_3_areas_of_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): NUTS 3 areas of Germany 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/germany-provinces?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): NUTS 3 areas of Germany 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/germany-provinces?period=2021
Y2 - 2026/10/12
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/germany-provinces?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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Rank NUTS 3 areas of Germany by active enterprises using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"active_enterprises","level":"province","within":"Germany","limit":10}
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Which area has the highest active enterprises?
Berlin, with 165,943 in 2021, according to Eurostat, European Commission.
Which area has the lowest active enterprises?
Zweibrücken, Kreisfreie Stadt, with 1,134 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. 6 areas have no value for 2021 and are not ranked.
Active enterprises: other rankings
- NUTS 3 areas of Czechia
- NUTS 3 areas of Poland
- NUTS 3 areas of Slovakia
- Regions of Netherlands (NUTS 2)
- Regions of Bulgaria (NUTS 2)
- Regions of France (NUTS 2)