551 German companies generate almost a third of total turnover

The 551 largest German companies, each having a turnover of over one billion euros (1.13 billion U.S. dollars), generated 31.9 percent of the turnover of all taxable companies in Germany in 2017, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) revealed on Friday.

According to Destatis, the 551 companies achieved deliveries and services worth 2.0 trillion euros in their advance turnover tax returns in 2017. In 2016, 516 companies had reported a turnover of more than one billion euros in their official tax returns.

Around 3.3 million companies in Germany submitted sales tax returns with a total expected turnover of almost 6.4 trillion euros excluding sales tax in 2017. As a result, the value of deliveries and services rose 4.5 percent compared with 2016.

The manufacturing sector and the trade sector, including maintenance and repair of motor vehicles, recorded by far the highest turnover -- at around 2.2 trillion euros and 2 trillion euros respectively -- and together accounted for more than two thirds of total turnover, Destatis data showed.

With an average turnover of 4.2 million euros per company, Hamburg registered the highest average value of the German federal states. The average turnover in Germany's less densely populated states was generally lower, according to Destatis.

The largest companies by turnover in Germany in 2017 were Volkswagen, followed by Daimler, Allianz, BMW, Siemens and Bosch, according to the companies' annual business figures.