SMEs in the Benelux - statistics & facts

Small and medium enterprises are an important part of the Belgian, Dutch, and Luxembourgish economies. When looking at the number of SMEs compared to other business types in the Netherlands, the mkb (the Dutch abbreviation for SMEs) equaled around 450,000 companies, compared to more than one million self-employed people in 2023. In Belgium, kmo (the Belgian Dutch abbreviation) and PME (the French abbreviation) were responsible for almost two-thirds of all employment in 2022. In 2021, the contribution of Belgian SMEs to the country’s employment was higher than in some European countries, such as France and the Netherlands, but notably below Luxembourg.

SMEs: a fine addition?

How much value do these small business enterprises add to GDP in the Benelux? In all three countries, SMEs generated over half of total value added. The share of Luxembourgish SMEs in total value in the country was higher than that from SMEs in Belgium and the Netherlands, with medium-sized companies from the Grand Duchy (companies which have between 50 to 249 employees) being responsible for around 27 percent of all total value added in the non-financial business economy. This was different in the two other Benelux-countries. The impact of different Belgian SME types on total value added was highest among micro-companies (companies with between one and nine employees), whereas small-sized companies (between 10 and 49 employees) in the Netherlands had a smaller impact on total value added than other SMEs in the country.

Small and medium enterprises, at your service

Which Benelux countries have the most SMEs? In both the Netherlands and Belgium, services was the industry where these companies were most prevalent. Over 92,000 of all SMEs in Wallonia (Belgium’s French-speaking region) were active in services in 2020, a figure more than twice the amount of SMEs active in construction. The most common SME sectors in the Netherlands were retail and specialized business services, together making up around 670,000 companies in 2022.This is similar to Luxembourg, as the professional, scientific and technical activities sector and the wholesale and retail trade had the most number of SMEs in 2022, totalling almost 20,000.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Statista Research Department, Feb 23, 2024

Key insights

Number of SMEs (1 to 249 employees) in Belgium
1.22m
Number of SMEs (excl. freelance) in the Netherlands
450k
Number of SMEs (1 to 249 employees) in Luxembourg
35.5k
Get more insights

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Number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Netherlands from 2008 to 2023, by size

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Number of SMEs in the Netherlands 2008-2023, by size

Number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Belgium in 2023, by company employment size

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Number of SMEs in Belgium 2023, by size

Number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Luxembourg in 2023, by company employment size

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Number of SMEs in Luxembourg 2023, by company size

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