AKP Phnom Penh, May 15, 2026 —

Multinational enterprise (MNE) groups accounted for 24% of employment in Bulgaria’s business economy in 2024, meaning nearly one in four private-sector employees worked for such companies, according to data released by Eurostat.

Across the European Union and the European Free Trade Association, a total of 149,678 multinational enterprise groups operated during the year.

Of these, 96,201 groups, or 64.3%, were controlled by EU countries, while 14,098 groups, or 9.4%, were controlled by EFTA member states.

Among multinational groups controlled by EU or EFTA countries, the largest number were under the control of Germany with 15,342 groups, accounting for 13.9% of the total, followed by Netherlands with 13,805 groups (12.5%) and Switzerland with 10,824 groups (9.8%).

Another 39,379 groups, or 26.3%, were controlled by countries outside the EU and EFTA. The largest numbers among these were controlled by the United Kingdom with 14,118 groups, the United States with 8,003, and China, including Hong Kong, with 2,135.

The data also show that multinational enterprises employed 51.6 million people across the EU and EFTA in 2024, representing 30% of total employment in the business economy, including industry, construction and services.

The highest shares of employment in multinational enterprise groups were recorded in Luxembourg at 54%, Czech Republic and Sweden at 44% each, followed by Switzerland at 43% and Norway at 42%.

The lowest shares were registered in Greece at 14%, Cyprus and Iceland at 18% each.

AKP-BTA