Facts and figures 08.10.2021 | 2021 Business size statistics 2019: Effects of the inclusion of persons in marginally employment in the business register on the SME key figures

The Federal Statistical Office has made methodological adjustments to the statistical business register that affect the SME share of the business stock, turnover and employment. The lowering of the so-called relevance threshold leads to an increase in the number of enterprises, especially small enterprises. The inclusion of marginally employed leads to a shift in the enterprise size structure, because the allocation of enterprises to enterprise size classes results in transitions to the next higher class. However, these shifts have only a minor and ultimately negligible effect on the respective SME shares. However, SMEs have a significantly higher share of low-paid employees than of employees subject to social security contributions, which increases their share of employment.