Charted: The largest companies in the world
In 1995, Fortune Magazine released its first-ever Global 500 - a list of the top 500 companies in the world based on revenue. This annual compilation serves as a barometer of economic prowess and corporate influence, offering insights into the ever-evolving landscape of global commerce.
The 2023 list features companies with headquarters in 33 countries across 19 sectors. Collectively, they generated roughly $41 trillion in revenue. These companies are truly global giants. The cut-off to make the 2023 list is $30.92 billion in revenue with more than half the companies raking in more than $55 billion in sales. To date, 143 companies have been featured on the list 29 times — every time it has been released — a testament to their global dominance, and the median years on the list is 18. In 2023, 23 companies made their debut on the prestigious list.
In this story, we use data from Fortune Magazine to explore the world’s largest companies by revenue.
2023 List at a Glance
Walmart tops the Fortune Global 500 list
Walmart claimed the top spot on the Fortune Global 500 list in 2023 with revenues of $611.29 billion. The Arkansas, USA-based retail giant has held the number one position for 10 consecutive years and has claimed the top spot a total of 18 times since the list was released in 1995. The energy sector dominates the top 10 with companies in this sector claiming six of the spots. The top 10 include:
Walmart (U.S.)
Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia)
State Grid (China)
Amazon.com (U.S.)
China National Petroleum (China)
Sinopec (China)
Exxon Mobil (U.S.)
Apple (U.S.)
Shell (Britain)
UnitedHealth Group (U.S.)
These ten companies collectively generated just over $4.7 trillion in revenue or approximately 10 per cent of the income of all the companies on the list combined.
Where the top 500 are headquartered
By geography, US-based companies top the list with 136 in total. China is in second place with 135 companies. Rounding out the top five are Japan (41), Germany (30), and France (23). The chart below shows the top 10 countries with the most Fortune Global 500 companies.
Sector by sector breakdown
Finance companies took over 20% of spots on the Global 500 list, the most of any sector. Yet, the energy sector leads with almost $10 trillion revenue, ahead of the finance sector's $7 trillion. Here’s a breakdown of the top 10 sectors on the Global 500 list based on the total number of companies per sector.
The full list
Feel free to explore the Global 500 list below. FORTUNE has an interactive table that you can use to explore the Global 500 list in more detail including organizing companies by specific industry , city or state headquarters are located in, whether a company has gained or dropped in the rankings compared to the year prior, and more. Check it out here.
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