SMEs and entrepreneurship in the EU - Issue number 24/2006 - Products Statistics in Focus

This publication summarises the role of smaller and medium-sized enterprises in the European economy. The importance of SMEs in terms of number of enterprises, value-added and employment in different activities are shown. Included are also analyses of differences in apparent labour productivity and recent gains/losses in employment. The contribution of SMEs to various aspects of entrepreneurship is highlighted, including comparisons with the situation in the US.