In 2014, considerable variations were observed across EU Member States in the distribution of high-growth enterprises, with shares ranging from more than 12% in Malta (13.7%), the United Kingdom (12.9%), Latvia (12.8%), Ireland (12.6%), Sweden (12.3%) and Hungary (12.1%), to less than 3% in Romania (2.3%) and Cyprus (2.2%).

 In 2014, around 145 000 companies, or almost a tenth (9.2%) of all active enterprises with at least ten employees in the business economy in the European Union were recognized as high-growth enterprises, providing work for over 12 million employees.

These firms have been distinguished using the following criteria: average annualised growth in number of employees greater than 10% per year over a three-year period and at least 10 employees at the beginning of the growth. High-growth enterprises play an important role in contributing to economic growth and the creation of jobs.

Looking at a breakdown by economic activity, high-growth enterprises in the EU were more predominant in the service sectors than in the rest of the business economy in 2014.

The highest proportion was found in the "Information and communication" sector (15.0% of active enterprises in this sector), followed by "Administrative and support service activities" (12.7%), "Transportation and storage" and "Professional, scientific and technical activities" (both 11.0%).

This information, issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, presents a selection of the latest data available on high-growth enterprises in the EU.

High-growing enterprises have a noteworthy impact on employment. In 2014, the highest contributions of high-growth enterprises to the total number of employees were recorded in the United Kingdom (19.3%), Ireland (19.1%), Bulgaria (18.0%), Hungary (17.9%), Malta (17.5%) and Latvia (17.4%).

In contrast, the lowest share was registered in Cyprus (3.6%), followed at a distance by Romania (6.7%) and Slovenia (8.2%).

In Malta, 256 enterprises are estimated at 13.7% of all active enterprises with at least 10 employees. The employees in these enterprises number 16,395 which are estimated at 17.5% of all employees.

Although high-growth enterprises operate in all sectors of the business economy across the EU, their share in the service sectors is higher in the majority of Member States.

More specifically, in 2014 high-growth enterprises were particularly concentrated within "Information and communication".

This sector was registered among the top 3 economic branches in 23 Member States, with the highest percentages being observed in Malta (22.3%), Ireland (19.9%), the United Kingdom (18.6%), Sweden (18.2%) and the Netherlands (17.6%).

"Administrative and support service activities" were among the top 3 sectors in terms of high-growth enterprises in 20 Member States, with the largest proportions being registered notably in Ireland (19.3%), Sweden (16.7%), Belgium (16.3%), Croatia (15.5%) and Denmark (15.3%).

"Transport and storage" and "Professional, scientific and technical activities" each recorded 11% of high-growth enterprises at EU level. In particular, large shares in "Transport and storage" were registered in Slovakia (17.2%), the United Kingdom (15.9%), Hungary and Bulgaria (both 15.7%).

"Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities" was the first industrial sector in terms of proportions of high-growth enterprises. It was listed among the top 3 economic branches in 6 Member States, with the highest shares being observed in the United Kingdom (17.9%), Sweden (15.3%) and Hungary (15.1%).