Italian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are leaders in Europe. Companies with fewer than 250 employees comprise approximately 4.7 million (99.9% of the overall), providing employment to 14.2 million individuals. In contrast, large enterprises number 4,619 and employ over 4.4 million people. Compared to Germany, Italian SMEs employ 74.6% of the entire workforce, whereas German companies employ 55.2%. Italian SMEs account for 62.9% of total turnover, compared to 35.8% for German firms. Italian SMEs generate 61.7% of total value added, while German SMEs contribute 46%. Italian SMEs (10-249 employees) outperform German SMEs by €4,229 per employee and provide a significant source of employment in Southern Italy. But Italy is paying the price for a lack of large corporations. This situation was unprecedented until the first half of the 1980s, when Italy was among the European and sometimes global leaders in chemicals, plastics, rubber, steel, aluminum, information technology, automotive, and pharmaceutical sectors, thanks to the role and influence of many large public and private companies. Italy has now lost ground in nearly all of these industries.