SMEs account for a large proportion of Europe’s economic and professional activity. In practice, two thirds of all private sector jobs in Europe are in SMEs, meaning that small firms are in fact the real giants of the European economy.

In fact, the average firm in the EU employs just seven people, even though it’s true that the figures vary greatly from country to country. Micro-businesses dominate employment in countries such as Italy (48%) and Greece (57%), whilst the share of large enterprises in total employment in the United Kingdom is over 45%.

European SMEs:

23 million enterprises
75 million jobs
99% of all European enterprises
account for more than 80% of employment in some industrial sectors such as textiles,
construction and furniture
Source: Eurostat, Commission Communication on Modern SME policy for Growth and Employment (2005)

Despite its primordial importance for the European economy, entrepreneurship is not a preferred career option for most Europeans. As many as 60% of EU citizens say that setting up their own business has never even occurred to them. It is a challenge for policy-makers both at the European and at the national level to reverse this trend
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/smes/facts_figures_en.htm
Luther Diedericks
http://www.sabusinesshub.co.za