Fortune Global 500
The Fortune Global 500, also known as Global 500, is an annual ranking of the top 500 corporations worldwide as measured by revenue. The list is compiled and published annually by Fortune magazine.
Methodology
Until 1989, it listed only non-United States industrial corporations under the title "International 500" while the Fortune 500 contained and still contains exclusively United States corporations. In 1990, United States companies were added to compile a truly global list of top industrial corporations as ranked by sales. Since 1995, the list has had its current form, listing also top financial corporations and service providers by revenue.
Controversy
Several inconsistencies exist in Fortune's ranking of cities with the most Fortune 500 headquarters. On June 3, 2011, the Atlanta Business Chronicle stated examples of Fortune including regional headquarters for some cities, excluding regional headquarters for other cities and in some cases excluding headquarters that are physically located inside a city limit.[1]
Geographical distribution
Since 2001, there has been a significant change in the geographical distribution of the companies in the Global 500 rankings. The number of North American-based companies decreased from 215 in 2001 to 143 in 2017 and the contribution of Asian-based companies increased rapidly from 116 in 2001 to 197 in 2017. Most of this growth is accounted for by the rapid increase in the number of Chinese Global 500 companies, of which there were 109 by 2017, increasing from only 10 in 2001. The share of European-based companies also declined, from 158 to 143, over the same period.[2][3][4]
Fortune Global 500 list of 2020
The following is the list of top 10 companies.[5]
| Rank | Company | Country | Industry | Revenue in USD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walmart |  |
Retail | $524 billion |
| 2 | Sinopec Group |  |
Petroleum | $407 billion |
| 3 | State Grid | |
Energy | $384 billion |
| 4 | China National Petroleum | |
Petroleum | $379 billion |
| 5 | Royal Dutch Shell |  |
Petroleum | $352 billion |
| 6 | Saudi Aramco |  |
Energy | $330 billion |
| 7 | Volkswagen |  |
Automobiles | $283 billion |
| 8 | BP |  |
Petroleum | $283 billion |
| 9 | Amazon.com | |
Internet Services and Retailing | $281 billion |
| 10 | Toyota Motor |  |
Automobiles | $275 billion |
Breakdown by country
As of August 2020, this is the list of the top 10 countries with the most Global 500 companies.[5]
| Rank | Country | Companies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | | 124 |
| 2 | | 121 |
| 3 | | 53 |
| 4 |  | 31 |
| 5 | | 27 |
| 6 | | 22 |
| 7 |  | 14 |
| 8 |  | 14 |
| 9 | .svg.png){kind=small} | 13 |
| 10 | | 13 |
† The Global 500 lists Taiwan separately. If Taiwan's 9 companies were combined with the 124 in China (and Hong Kong), then Greater China would have 133 companies.
‡ The Global 500 includes Unilever under the heading "Britain/Netherlands", as the company is counted in the tally for both countries.
Breakdown by sector
The top-ranked companies in 2020 for each sector.[5]
| Sector | Company | Headquarters | Overall rank | Revenues ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aerospace & Defense | Airbus | | #116 | 78,883 |
| Apparel | Christian Dior | | #180 | 60,071 |
| Business services | Compass Group | | #395 | 31,736 |
| Chemicals | BASF | | #143 | 70,723 |
| Energy | Sinopec Group | | #2 | 407,009 |
| Engineering & Construction | China State Construction Engineering | | #18 | 205,839 |
| Financials | Berkshire Hathaway | | #14 | 254,616 |
| Food & Drug Stores | Walgreens Boots Alliance | | #41 | 136,866 |
| Food, Beverages & Tobacco | Nestlé | | #82 | 92,107 |
| Health Care | CVS Health | | #13 | 256,776 |
| Household Products | Procter & Gamble | | #156 | 67,684 |
| Industrials | Siemens | | #74 | 97,937 |
| Materials | Amer International Group | | #91 | 88,862 |
| Media | Walt Disney | | #150 | 69,570 |
| Motor Vehicles & Parts | Volkswagen | | #7 | 282,760 |
| Retailing | Walmart | | #1 | 523,964 |
| Technology | Apple | | #12 | 260,174 |
| Telecommunications | AT&T | | #22 | 181,193 |
| Transportation | China Post Group | | #90 | 89,347 |
| Wholesalers | Trafigura Group |  | #27 | 171,474 |
Breakdown by region
As of August 2020, 476 of Fortune Global 500 companies are located in East Asia (40%), Europe (28%), and North America (28%).[5]
| Region | Companies |
|---|---|
| East Asia | 200 |
| Europe | 138 |
| North America | 138 |
| Rest of world | 24 |
Fortune Global 500 list of 2019
The following is the list of top 10 companies.[6]
| Rank | Company | Country | Industry | Revenue in USD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walmart | |
Retail | $514 billion |
| 2 | Sinopec Group | |
Petroleum | $415 billion |
| 3 | Royal Dutch Shell | |
Petroleum | $397 billion |
| 4 | China National Petroleum | |
Petroleum | $393 billion |
| 5 | State Grid | |
Energy | $387 billion |
| 6 | Saudi Aramco | |
Energy | $356 billion |
| 7 | BP | |
Petroleum | $304 billion |
| 8 | Exxon Mobil | |
Petroleum | $290 billion |
| 9 | Volkswagen | |
Automobiles | $278 billion |
| 10 | Toyota Motor | |
Automobiles | $273 billion |
Breakdown by country
As of July 2019, this is the list of the top 10 countries with the most Global 500 companies.[6]
| Rank | Country | Companies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | | 121 |
| 2 | | 119 |
| 3 | | 52 |
| 4 | | 31 |
| 5 | | 29 |
| 6 | | 18 |
| 7 | | 16 |
| 8 | | 14 |
| 9 | | 13 |
| 10 | | 12 |
† The Global 500 lists Taiwan separately. If its 10 companies were combined with the 119 in China (and Hong Kong), then Greater China would have 129 companies and rank first.
‡ The Global 500 includes Unilever & Royal Dutch Shell under the heading "Britain/Netherlands", as the company is counted in the tally for both countries.
Breakdown by sector
The top-ranked companies in 2019 for each sector.[6]
| Sector | Company | Headquarters | Overall rank | Revenues ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aerospace & Defense | Boeing | | #68 | 101,127 |
| Apparel | Christian Dior | | #187 | 55,263 |
| Business services | Compass Group | | #403 | 30,879 |
| Chemicals | DuPont | | #100 | 85,977 |
| Energy | Sinopec Group | | #2 | 414,650 |
| Engineering & Construction | China State Construction Engineering | | #21 | 181,525 |
| Financials | Berkshire Hathaway | | #12 | 247,837 |
| Food & Drug Stores | Walgreens Boots Alliance | | #40 | 131,537 |
| Food, Beverages & Tobacco | Nestlé | | #76 | 93,513 |
| Health Care | UnitedHealth Group | | #14 | 226,247 |
| Household Products | Procter & Gamble | | #146 | 66,832 |
| Industrials | General Electric | | #48 | 120,268 |
| Materials | China Minmetals | | #112 | 80,076 |
| Media | Walt Disney | | #170 | 59,434 |
| Motor Vehicles & Parts | Volkswagen | | #9 | 278,342 |
| Retailing | Walmart | | #1 | 514,405 |
| Technology | Apple | | #11 | 265,595 |
| Telecommunications | AT&T | | #25 | 170,756 |
| Transportation | China Post Group | | #101 | 85,628 |
| Wholesalers | Trafigura Group | | #22 | 180,744 |
Fortune Global 500 list of 2018
The following is the list of top 10 companies.[7]
| Rank | Company | Country | Industry | Revenue in USD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walmart | |
Retail | $500 billion |
| 2 | State Grid | |
Energy | $349 billion |
| 3 | Sinopec Group | |
Petroleum | $327 billion |
| 4 | China National Petroleum | |
Petroleum | $326 billion |
| 5 | Royal Dutch Shell | |
Petroleum | $312 billion |
| 6 | Toyota Motor | |
Automobiles | $265 billion |
| 7 | Volkswagen | |
Automobiles | $260 billion |
| 8 | BP | |
Petroleum | $245 billion |
| 9 | Exxon Mobil | |
Petroleum | $244 billion |
| 10 | Berkshire Hathaway | |
Holding | $242 billion |
Breakdown by country
As of July 2018, this is the list of the top 10 countries with the most Global 500 companies.[7]
| Rank | Country | Companies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | | 126 |
| 2 | | 120 |
| 3 | | 52 |
| 4 | | 32 |
| 5 | | 28 |
| 6 | | 21 |
| 7 | | 16 |
| 8 | | 15 |
| 9 | | 14 |
| 10 | | 12 |
† The Global 500 includes Unilever under the heading "Britain/Netherlands", as the company is counted in the tally for both countries.
As shown in the table above, 436 (87.2%) of the Global 500 are represented by only 10 countries: two in North America (Canada and United States), five in Western Europe (France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland and United Kingdom) and three in East Asia (China, Japan and South Korea). Moreover, the top six (United States, China, Japan, Germany, France and United Kingdom) are the world's largest economies as estimated by the IMF (List of countries by GDP (nominal)). Among the Global 500, 379 companies (75.8%) are from these six countries.
Breakdown by sector
The top-ranked companies in 2018 for each sector.[7]
| Sector | Company | Headquarters | Overall rank | Revenues ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aerospace & Defense | Boeing | | #64 | 93,392 |
| Apparel | Christian Dior | | #208 | 49,221 |
| Business services | Compass Group | | #413 | 28,578 |
| Chemicals | BASF | | #112 | 72,677 |
| Energy | State Grid | | #2 | 348,903 |
| Engineering & Construction | China State Construction Engineering | | #23 | 156,071 |
| Financials | Berkshire Hathaway | | #10 | 242,137 |
| Food & Drug Stores | Kroger | | #39 | 122,662 |
| Food, Beverages & Tobacco | Nestlé | | #69 | 91,222 |
| Health Care | UnitedHealth Group | | #15 | 201,159 |
| Household Products | Procter & Gamble | | #135 | 66,217 |
| Industrials | General Electric | | #41 | 122,274 |
| Materials | China Minmetals | | #109 | 72,997 |
| Media | Disney | | #176 | 55,137 |
| Motor Vehicles & Parts | Toyota Motor | | #6 | 265,172 |
| Retailing | Walmart | | #1 | 500,343 |
| Technology | Apple | | #11 | 229,234 |
| Telecommunications | AT&T | | #20 | 160,546 |
| Transportation | China Post Group | | #113 | 72,197 |
| Wholesalers | McKesson | | #13 | 208,357 |
Breakdown by industry
The top-ranked companies in 2018 for each industry.
| Industry | Company | Country | Rank | Revenue ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aerospace & Defense | Boeing | |
64 | 93,392 |
| Airlines | American Airlines | |
260 | 42,207 |
| Apparel | Christian Dior | |
208 | 49,221 |
| Banks: Commercial & Savings | Industrial & Commercial Bank | |
26 | 153,021 |
| Beverages | Anheuser-Busch InBev | .svg.png){kind=small} |
170 | 56,444 |
| Building Materials, Glass | Saint-Gobain | |
231 | 46,002 |
| Chemicals | BASF | |
112 | 72,677 |
| Computer Software | Microsoft | |
71 | 89,950 |
| Computers, Office Equipment | Apple | |
11 | 229,234 |
| Construction & Farm Machinery | Caterpillar | |
238 | 45,462 |
| Diversified Financials | EXOR Group | |
19 | 161,677 |
| Electronics, Electrical Equipment | Samsung Electronics | |
12 | 211,940 |
| Energy | Gazprom |  |
49 | 111,983 |
| Engineering & Construction | China Construction Engineering | |
23 | 156,071 |
| Entertainment | Disney | |
176 | 55,137 |
| Food & Drug Stores | Kroger | |
39 | 122,662 |
| Food Consumer Products | Nestle | |
69 | 91,222 |
| Food Production | Archer Daniels Midland | |
152 | 60,828 |
| Food Services | Compass Group | |
413 | 28,578 |
| General Merchandisers | Walmart | |
1 | 500,343 |
| Health Care: Insurance & Managed Care | UnitedHealth Group | |
15 | 201,159 |
| Health Care: Medical Facilities | HCA Healthcare | |
215 | 47,653 |
| Health Care: Pharmacy & Other Services | CVS Health | |
17 | 184,765 |
| Household & Personal Products | Procter & Gamble | |
135 | 66,217 |
| Human Resources & Employment Services | Adecco Group | |
441 | 26,670 |
| Industrial Machinery | General Electric | |
41 | 122,274 |
| Information Technology Services | IBM | |
92 | 79,139 |
| Insurance: Life, Health (Mutual) | Nippon Life Insurance | |
126 | 68,684 |
| Insurance: Life, Health (Stock) | AXA | |
27 | 149,461 |
| Insurance: Property & Casualty (Mutual) | State Farm Insurance | |
95 | 78,331 |
| Insurance: Property & Casualty (Stock) | Berkshire Hathaway | |
10 | 242,137 |
| Internet Services & Retailing | Amazon.com | |
18 | 177,866 |
| Mail, Package, & Freight Delivery | China Post Group | |
113 | 72,197 |
| Medical Products & Equipment | Medtronic |  |
396 | 29,710 |
| Metals | China Minmetals | |
109 | 72,997 |
| Mining, Crude-Oil Production | Glencore | |
14 | 205,476 |
| Motor Vehicles & Parts | Toyota Motor | |
6 | 265,172 |
| Network & Other Communications Equipment | Huawei Investment & Holding | |
72 | 89,311 |
| Oil & Gas Equipment, Services | Schlumberger | |
386 | 30,440 |
| Petroleum Refining | Sinopec Group | |
3 | 326,953 |
| Pharmaceuticals | China Resources | |
86 | 82,184 |
| Pipelines | Energy Transfer Equity | |
217 | 47,487 |
| Railroads | Deutsche Bahn | |
211 | 48,124 |
| Real Estate | China Evergrande Group | |
230 | 46,019 |
| Semiconductors & Other Electronic Components | Intel | |
146 | 62,761 |
| Shipping | China Shipbuilding Industry | |
245 | 44,431 |
| Specialty Retailers | Home Depot | |
57 | 100,904 |
| Telecommunications | AT&T | |
20 | 160,546 |
| Textiles | Shandong Weiqiao Pioneering | |
185 | 53,203 |
| Tobacco | Philip Morris International | |
411 | 28,748 |
| Trading | Trafigura Group | |
32 | 136,421 |
| Utilities | State Grid | |
2 | 348,903 |
| Wholesalers: Electronics & Office Equipment | Tech Data | |
315 | 36,775 |
| Wholesalers: Food & Grocery | Sysco | |
174 | 55,371 |
| Wholesalers: Health Care | McKesson | |
13 | 208,357 |
Most profitable
The global 500 list sorted by profits.[8]
| Rank | Company | Country | Profits ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apple | |
$48,351.0 |
| 2 | British American Tobacco | |
$48,327.8 |
| 3 | Berkshire Hathaway | |
$44,940.0 |
| 4 | Industrial & Commercial Bank of China | |
$42,323.7 |
| 5 | Samsung Electronics | |
$36,575.4 |
| 6 | China Construction Bank | |
$35,845.2 |
| 7 | Verizon | |
$30,101.0 |
| 8 | AT&T | |
$29,450.0 |
| 9 | Agricultural Bank of China | |
$28,550.4 |
| 10 | Bank of China | |
$25,509.2 |
Fortune Global 500 list of 2017
The following is the list of top 10 companies.[9][10]
| Rank | Company | Country | Industry | Revenue in USD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walmart | |
Retail | $486 billion |
| 2 | State Grid | |
Energy | $316 billion |
| 3 | Sinopec Group | |
Petroleum | $268 billion |
| 4 | China National Petroleum | |
Petroleum | $263 billion |
| 5 | Toyota Motor | |
Automobiles | $255 billion |
| 6 | Volkswagen | |
Automobiles | $240 billion |
| 7 | Royal Dutch Shell | |
Petroleum | $240 billion |
| 8 | Berkshire Hathaway | |
Products | $242 billion |
| 9 | Apple | |
Technology | $216 billion |
| 10 | Exxon Mobil | |
Petroleum | $205 billion |
† Fortune had previously listed Shell as a British/Dutch company, but as of the 2016 listing it is listed as Dutch.
Breakdown by country
As of November 2017, this is the list of the top 10 countries with the most Global 500 companies.[11]
| Rank | Country | Companies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | | 133 |
| 2 | | 109 |
| 3 | | 51 |
| 4 | | 29 |
| 5 | | 29 |
| 6 | | 21 |
| 7 | | 15 |
| 8 | | 15 |
| 9 | | 13 |
† The Global 500 includes Unilever under the heading "Britain/Netherlands", as the company is counted in the tally for both countries.
As can be seen from the table above, 425 (85.0%) of the Global 500 are represented by only 10 countries: two in North America (Canada and United States), five in Western Europe (France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland and United Kingdom) and three in East Asia (China, Japan and South Korea). Moreover, the top six (United States, China, Japan, France, Germany and United Kingdom) are some of the world's largest economies as estimated by the IMF (List of countries by GDP (nominal)). Among the Fortune Global 500, 371 companies (74.2%) are from these six countries.
Breakdown by sector
The top-ranked companies in each sector are as follows.
See also
- 40 under 40 (Fortune Magazine)
- Fortune India 500
- Forbes Global 2000
- Fortune 500
- Fortune 1000
- List of largest companies by revenue
- List of companies by employees
- List of corporations by market capitalization
References
- Maria Saporta. "Some cities rankings are overstated". Atlanta Business Chronicle. Archived from the original on 14 July 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
- "A New Perspective on the Corporate World". CNN Money, Fortune Magazine. Archived from the original on June 29, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
- "Visualize The Global 500". Fortune. Archived from the original on 2016-09-07. Retrieved 2016-09-16.
- "40% of Fortune 500 companies Asian, India has 7 in list - Times of India â–º". The Times of India. Archived from the original on February 17, 2019. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
- "Global 500". Fortune. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
- "Global 500". Fortune. Archived from the original on 2019-08-07. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
- "Fortune Global 500 List 2018: See Who Made It". Fortune. Archived from the original on 2019-05-10. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
- "Fortune Global 500 List 2018: See Who Made It". Fortune. Archived from the original on 2019-05-10. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
- "Fortune Global 500 List 2018: See Who Made It". Fortune. Archived from the original on 2012-05-09. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
- "Global 500". Fortune. Archived from the original on September 7, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
- "Global 500 2017". Fortune. Number of companies data taken from the "Country" box.