This section presents data on enterprises that operate in the business economy. The business economy consists of industry, construction, and market services, which are wholesale and retail trade, accommodation and food services, financial and real estate services, and professional and technical services. Services outside the business economy are non-market services that are wholly or largely provided by the government for free or at non-market prices (i.e., heavily subsidized). Non-market services include public administration, national defense, education, and health.

The next graph shows the evolution in the number of enterprises in the business economy.

Most enterprises employ very few workers and there are very few enterprises that employ a large number of workers. The next graph shows the employment size distribution of enterprises: the number of micro enterprises (with 0-9 persons employed), small enterprises (with 10-19 or 20-49), medium enterprises (with 50-249 ) and large enterprises (250 persons employed or more).

Micro enterprises (9 persons employed or less) comprise around 95% of total enterprises (see graph above) but employ only around half of all workers (see graph below). The next graph shows the number of workers who are employed in enterprises of each size class.

The next graph presents the value-added produced by enterprises of each size.

The next graph presents the distribution of enterprises according to their economic sector.

The number of enterprises that are active in the economy changes over time as new enterprises open and begin operations while some existing enterprises close down and exit the market. The first event is called the "birth" of an enterprise and the latter event is called the "death" of an enterprise.

The next graph shows the number of enterprise births and deaths over time, as well as the employment at newly-opened enterprises and enterprises that close.

The creation of an enterprise is captured in administrative records, such as the registration with the tax authorities. The next graphs present the registration of new enterprises separately by sector of activity, by geographical area, and by legal form.

Fast-growing enterprises are very important for an economy. An enterprise is defined as "high-growth" if it has at least 10 employees and has experienced employment growth of more than 10% annually for the preceding three years. The next graph shows the number of high-growth enterprises, the number of workers that they employ and their share among all enterprises with more than 10 workers.

An important group of enterprises are those that are controlled by parent enterprises based in other countries. Foreign-controlled enterprises are often the outcome of foreign investment in Greece and can bring know-how and capital from other countries.

The next graph depicts the number of foreign-controlled enterprises, the number of workers that they employ, and the value-added that they produce.