Europe's companies fight: decline in sales and prize weaknesses threaten!

Europe's companies fight: decline in sales and prize weaknesses threaten!

The recent results of a study by EY throw a sobering light on the situation of European companies in global competition. While US companies increased their sales by 4.5 %in 2024 and Asian corporations by 3.2 %, large European companies recorded a decline of 1.1 %. These figures illustrate the growing challenges with which European companies are confronted and make doubts raise doubts. In the analysis it was also found that the profits of European top players fell on average by 6.5 %, while the operational results of their American colleagues grew by 8.2 %, and Asian companies even added 19.5 %.

Another concern is the decline in German corporations, which suffered a loss of sales of 3.1 % and a decline in profits of 8.5 %. The United States continues to dominate the ranking of the highest sales companies, with 317 companies in the top 1,000, followed by China with 137 and Japan with 110 companies. Germany comes to only 43 companies in this list. According to EY expert Jan Brorhilker, the situation for European companies is serious, which is not least due to the geopolitical tensions, customs loads and the general weakness in various industrial sectors.

top companies in the profit ranking

The study also shows that no European company can be found among the ten most profitable companies worldwide. Saudi Aramco leads the list with an operational profit of around $ 191 billion, while Shell ranks 13th as the most profitable European company. Deutsche Telekom is the first German company in the profit ranking with a profit of over 26 billion euros and ranked 19.

The top -selling companies in 2024 are Walmart, Amazon and Saudi Aramco. The list of German-sellest German companies from Volkswagen is listed in 9th place, followed by Mercedes-Benz (35th), BMW (36th place) and Deutsche Telekom (50).

macroeconomic framework conditions

The economic framework contributes significantly to the more tense location. The year 2023 was characterized by high macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty. High inflation rates, a short -term global banking crisis and a steamed mood among companies and consumers struggled in the global economy. The United States managed to avoid an economic downturn while Europe is on the verge of recession. These uncertainties can also influence the growth prospects in the clothing industry, where sales in 2023 only rose within the framework of 2 % to 4 %.

In addition to the high inflation, pressure on input costs and a highly competitive job market, the first signs of optimism by reopening China and robust demand in Europe show. The second half of the year, on the other hand, could become more challenging due to declining demand in Europe and slow recovery in China. In the clothing industry, sales growth in the first half of the year was 10 % in China, while it was 5 % in Europe. Overall, the industry is optimistic, but has to adapt to increasing head winds.

The situation shows that despite strong companies and market shares, the challenges that are available to European companies are far -reaching and probably not only require industry -specific solutions.