Germany is the economic powerhouse of Europe. Unlike the consumption-driven economy of many countries such as the US, the Germany economy is export-driven. Some of the world’s largest companies are based in Germany. One way to identify the largest German companies in terms of revenue is to review the Fortune Global 500 list. The latest list for this year was published by Fortune last month. The table below shows the German companies that made it to the prestigious Fortune Global 500 list:
| Global Rank | Company Name | 2016 Revenue (in millions) |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Volkswagen | $240,264 |
| 16 | Daimler | $169,483 |
| 34 | Allianz | $122,196 |
| 52 | BMW Group | $104,130 |
| 66 | Siemens | $88,419 |
| 76 | Robert Bosch | $80,869 |
| 77 | Deutsche Telekom | $80,832 |
| 91 | Uniper | $74,407 |
| 109 | Munch Re Group | $68,700 |
| 117 | Deutsche Post DHL Group | $65,787 |
| 123 | Metro | $64,853 |
| 126 | BASF | $63,641 |
| 174 | Bayer | $52,569 |
| 189 | Deustche Bank | $48,876 |
| 195 | RWE | $48,204 |
| 212 | Deutsche Bahn | $44,850 |
| 213 | Continental | $44,842 |
| 224 | ThyssenKrupp | $43,589 |
| 231 | E.ON | $42,213 |
| 263 | ZF Friedrichshafen | $38,888 |
| 302 | Talannz | $35,101 |
| 303 | Lufthansa Group | $35,011 |
| 309 | Edeka Zentrale | $34,193 |
| 327 | DZ Bank | $32,636 |
| 335 | Fresenius | $32,161 |
| 403 | Phoenix Pharmahandel | $26,976 |
| 443 | SAP | $24,397 |
| 457 | Heraeus Holding | $23,793 |
| 499 | TUI | $21,655 |
Source: Fortune
Download: The largest German companies based on revenue in 2016 (in Excel)
A few observations:
- A total of 29 German firms are in this years Fortune Global 500 list.
- The highest ranked company is the auto-maker Volkwage(VLKAY) with a revenue of over $240 billion in 2016. To put this in perspective, the world’s largest company by sales Walmart(WMT) had a revenue of over $485 billion.
- Other major auto-makers BMW Group(BMWYY) and Daimler are also on this list.
- E.ON(EONGY) and RWE(RWEOY) are two of the largest utilities. However their stocks have collapsed in the past few years but are slowly recovering.
- TUI is one of the world’s largest travel company.
- Some of the companies from that above table that trade on the US markets are chemical giant BASF(BASFY), automation leader Siemens(SIEGY), tire market Continental(CTTAY), SAP(SAP) and Fresenius (FMS).
Disclosure: Long CTTAY, EONGY, RWEOY
Earlier: The 32 Largest German Companies By Revenue 2012 (TFS)
