How the world’s largest family businesses are outstripping global economic growth

The 2023 EY and University of St.Gallen Family Business Index reveals the largest 500 family businesses are growing faster than the global economy - at nearly twice the rate of advanced economies and around 1.5 times the rate of emerging market and developing economies. They collectively generate US$8.02 trillion in revenue and employ 24.5 million people worldwide.

Almost half of all the businesses in the Index are based in Europe. North America is host to 30 % of family businesses, and Asia-Pacific has 16% of family businesses in the Index. The number of businesses from Asia-Pacific has constantly risen since the Index was first published in 2015, from 61 companies to 79 over this period.​ The consumer sector remains the largest sector (37.4%), but Advanced Manufacturing and Mobility has increased its presence on the Index this year to 28.6%.

Nineteen percent of family businesses have a family member under 40 years on the board, while women hold 23% of board seats. Seventy-six percent of companies in the Index are older than 50 years and almost one-third (30.8%) are over 100 years old.

The Index has been published every two years since 2015. Use the interactive tool below to search the data based on jurisdictions and other key fields of information for the world’s 500 largest family businesses.

Read further analysis on ey.com.