Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are defined as having less than 250 persons employed. In 2015, the latest year for which data is available, Ireland had 15,090 SMEs in manufacturing. The EU-28 total was 2,081,796 SMEs in manufacturing.
The following table gives a breakdown of manufacturing enterprises by size of enterprise in each EU Member State, distinguishing the number of micro-enterprises (less than 10 persons employed), small enterprises (10 to 49 persons employed), medium enterprises (50 to 249 persons employed), and large enterprises. The figures are based on EU results published by Eurostat. Irish figures for 2016 will be available in June 2018.
Number of Manufacturing Enterprises by Size Class and Member State, 2015
Size of enterprise (persons employed)
|
Micro (<10)
|
%
|
Small (10-49)
|
%
|
Medium
(50-249)
|
%
|
SMEs
(<249)
|
%
|
Large
(250 or more)
|
%
|
All Manufacturing Enterprises
|
EU - 281
|
1,735,311
|
82.7
|
275,207
|
13.1
|
71,278
|
3.4
|
2,081,796
|
99.2
|
16,100
|
0.8
|
2,098,630
|
Belgium
|
27,932
|
82.7
|
4,396
|
13.0
|
1,151
|
3.4
|
33,479
|
99.1
|
309
|
0.9
|
33,788
|
Bulgaria
|
22,785
|
73.8
|
5,697
|
18.4
|
1,743
|
5.6
|
30,225
|
97.9
|
285
|
0.9
|
30,879
|
Czech Republic
|
159,760
|
92.9
|
8,381
|
4.9
|
3,052
|
1.8
|
171,193
|
99.5
|
861
|
0.5
|
172,054
|
Denmark
|
10,523
|
70.9
|
3,149
|
21.2
|
958
|
6.5
|
14,630
|
98.6
|
202
|
1.4
|
14,832
|
Germany
|
131,323
|
64.1
|
52,905
|
25.8
|
16,464
|
8.0
|
200,692
|
97.9
|
4,336
|
2.1
|
205,028
|
Estonia
|
5,369
|
76.1
|
1,182
|
16.8
|
438
|
6.2
|
6,989
|
99.1
|
64
|
0.9
|
7,053
|
Ireland
|
13,048
|
85.6
|
1,540
|
10.1
|
502
|
3.3
|
15,090
|
99.0
|
152
|
1.0
|
15,242
|
Greece
|
59,886
|
93.7
|
3,330
|
5.2
|
563
|
0.9
|
63,779
|
99.8
|
111
|
0.2
|
63,890
|
Spain
|
139,733
|
83.7
|
22,232
|
13.3
|
4,220
|
2.5
|
166,185
|
99.6
|
752
|
0.5
|
166,936
|
France
|
184,489
|
86.5
|
21,974
|
10.3
|
5,486
|
2.6
|
211,949
|
99.4
|
1,354
|
0.6
|
213,303
|
Croatia
|
16,351
|
82.9
|
2,570
|
13.0
|
646
|
3.3
|
19,567
|
99.2
|
149
|
0.8
|
19,716
|
Italy
|
321,837
|
82.7
|
57,930
|
14.9
|
8,338
|
2.1
|
388,105
|
99.7
|
1,212
|
0.3
|
389,317
|
Cyprus
|
4,504
|
89.7
|
445
|
8.9
|
64
|
1.3
|
5,013
|
99.9
|
6
|
0.1
|
5019
|
Latvia
|
8,569
|
81.4
|
1,457
|
13.8
|
442
|
4.2
|
10,468
|
99.5
|
54
|
0.5
|
10,523
|
Lithuania
|
16,399
|
84.5
|
2,163
|
11.2
|
704
|
3.6
|
19,266
|
99.3
|
132
|
0.7
|
19,398
|
Luxembourg
|
481
|
61.2
|
..
|
..
|
83
|
10.6
|
..
|
..
|
..
|
..
|
786
|
Hungary
|
41,545
|
84.3
|
5,686
|
11.5
|
1,659
|
3.4
|
48,890
|
99.1
|
420
|
0.9
|
49,310
|
Malta
|
1,787
|
86.1
|
..
|
..
|
56
|
2.7
|
..
|
..
|
..
|
..
|
2,076
|
Netherlands
|
55,117
|
87.0
|
5,962
|
9.4
|
1,935
|
3.1
|
63,014
|
99.5
|
323
|
0.5
|
63,337
|
Austria
|
18,401
|
72.7
|
5,015
|
19.8
|
1,432
|
5.7
|
24,848
|
98.1
|
475
|
1.9
|
25,323
|
Poland
|
164,535
|
87.8
|
15,057
|
8.0
|
6,193
|
3.3
|
185,785
|
99.2
|
1,589
|
0.8
|
187,374
|
Portugal
|
54,653
|
81.9
|
9,693
|
14.5
|
2,120
|
3.2
|
66,466
|
99.6
|
263
|
0.4
|
66,729
|
Romania
|
34,974
|
72.3
|
9,509
|
19.6
|
3,147
|
6.5
|
47,630
|
98.4
|
775
|
1.6
|
48,405
|
Slovenia
|
16,700
|
88.6
|
1,562
|
8.3
|
487
|
2.6
|
18,749
|
99.4
|
104
|
0.6
|
18,853
|
Slovakia
|
59,413
|
92.9
|
3,261
|
5.1
|
1014
|
1.6
|
63,688
|
99.6
|
281
|
0.4
|
63,969
|
Finland
|
16,821
|
81.3
|
2,922
|
14.1
|
825
|
4.0
|
20,568
|
99.5
|
200
|
1.0
|
20,678
|
Sweden
|
47,435
|
88.3
|
4,735
|
8.8
|
1,255
|
2.3
|
53,425
|
99.5
|
287
|
0.5
|
53,712
|
United Kingdom
|
100,941
|
77.0
|
22,454
|
17.1
|
6,301
|
4.8
|
129,696
|
98.9
|
1,404
|
1.1
|
131,100
|
Indicates that the data has been suppressed for confidentiality reasons.
1 Total values exclude data from countries whose values have been suppressed.