Regions of Germany (NUTS 2) by active enterprises

Oberbayern had the highest active enterprises of 38 regions in 2021, at 237,218. Trier had the lowest, at 18,117. The median was 70,441 and the figure for Germany was 3.15 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest237,218Oberbayern

Lowest18,117Trier

Median70,44138 regions

Germany3,145,703History

All 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
1	Oberbayern	237,218
2	Düsseldorf	199,251
3	Köln	177,724
4	Darmstadt	169,719
5	Berlin	165,943
6	Stuttgart	155,826
7	Arnsberg	116,911
8	Schleswig-Holstein	112,313
9	Karlsruhe	108,043
10	Hamburg	90,054
11	Brandenburg	89,169
12	Freiburg	88,537
13	Weser-Ems	87,687
14	Münster	87,449
15	Schwaben	77,966
16	Detmold	73,227
17	Tübingen	73,100
18	Hannover	71,972
19	Rheinhessen-Pfalz	70,558
20	Thüringen	70,323
21	Mittelfranken	68,412
22	Sachsen-Anhalt	63,681
23	Lüneburg	57,736
24	Dresden	55,808
25	Koblenz	55,557
26	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	54,647
27	Niederbayern	52,544
28	Chemnitz	50,652
29	Unterfranken	49,833
30	Braunschweig	42,830
31	Oberpfalz	42,409
32	Kassel	39,999
33	Oberfranken	38,180
34	Leipzig	37,751
35	Gießen	36,847
36	Saarland	34,614
37	Bremen	23,096
38	Trier	18,117

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) (Regions of Germany (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), Regions of Germany (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/germany-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). Regions of Germany (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/germany-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), Regions of Germany (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/germany-regions?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_regions_of_germany_nuts_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): Regions of Germany (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/germany-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): Regions of Germany (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/germany-regions?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/germany-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?

Oberbayern, with 237,218 in 2021, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which region has the lowest active enterprises?

Trier, with 18,117 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.