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 and 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, not including regional headquarters for other cities and in some cases not including 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[citation needed] and the contribution of Asian-based companies increased rapidly from 116 in 2001 to 197 in 2017[citation needed]. 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 reduced, from 158 to 143, over the same period.[2][3][4]
Fortune Global 500 list of year 2018
The following is the list of top 10 companies.[5]
| Rank | Company | Country | Industry | Revenue in USD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walmart |  United States
|
Retail | $500 billion |
| 2 | State Grid |  China
|
Power | $349 billion |
| 3 | Sinopec Group | China
|
Petroleum | $327 billion |
| 4 | China National Petroleum | China
|
Petroleum | $326 billion |
| 5 | Royal Dutch Shell |  Netherlands  United Kingdom
|
Petroleum | $312 billion |
| 6 | Toyota Motor |  Japan
|
Automobiles | $265 billion |
| 7 | Volkswagen |  Germany
|
Automobiles | $200 billion |
| 8 | BP | United Kingdom
|
Petroleum | $245 billion |
| 9 | Exxon Mobil | United States
|
Petroleum | $244 billion |
| 10 | Berkshire Hathaway | United States
|
Holding | $242 billion |
Breakdown by country
As of July 2018[update], this is the list of the top 10 countries with the most Global 500 companies.[5]
| Rank | Country | Companies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States |
126 |
| 2 | China |
120 |
| 3 | Japan |
52 |
| 4 | Germany |
32 |
| 5 |  France |
28 |
| 6 | United Kingdom † |
21 |
| 7 |  South Korea |
16 |
| 8 | Netherlands † |
15 |
| 9 |  Switzerland |
14 |
| 10 |  Canada |
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.
Fortune Global 500 list of year 2017
The following is the list of top 10 companies.[6][7]
| Rank | Company | Country | Industry | Revenue in USD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walmart | United States
|
Retail | $486 billion |
| 2 | State Grid | China
|
Power | $315 billion |
| 3 | Sinopec Group | China
|
Petroleum | $268 billion |
| 4 | China National Petroleum | China
|
Petroleum | $263 billion |
| 5 | Toyota Motor | Japan
|
Automobiles | $255 billion |
| 6 | Volkswagen | Germany
|
Automobiles | $240 billion |
| 7 | Royal Dutch Shell | Netherlands †
|
Petroleum | $240 billion |
| 8 | Berkshire Hathaway | United States
|
Products | $242 billion |
| 9 | Apple | United States
|
Technology | $216 billion |
| 10 | Exxon Mobil | United States
|
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[update], this is the list of the top 10 countries with the most Global 500 companies.[8]
| Rank | Country | Companies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States |
133 |
| 2 | China |
109 |
| 3 | Japan |
51 |
| 4 | France |
29 |
| 5 | Germany |
29 |
| 6 | United Kingdom † |
21 |
| 7 | South Korea |
15 |
| 8 | Netherlands † |
15 |
| 9 | Switzerland |
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.
By industry sector
The top-ranked companies in each industry sector are as follows.
See also
References
- ^ Maria Saporta. "Some cities rankings are overstated". Atlanta Business Chronicle. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
- ^ "A New Perspective on the Corporate World". CNN Money, Fortune Magazine. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ "Visualize The Global 500". Fortune.
- ^ Fortune 500 companies list: 40% of Fortune 500 companies Asian, India has 7 in list - Times of India
- ^ a b "Fortune Global 500 List 2018: See Who Made It". Fortune. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
- ^ http://fortune.com/global500/
- ^ "Global 500". Fortune. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
- ^ "Global 500 2017". Fortune. Number of companies data taken from the "Country" box.