The majority of businesses in Germany are family businesses. The economic significance of family businesses and their special features compared to other businesses have been examined in recent years in studies by the IfM Bonn (2007, 2010) and the ZEW (2009, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2019, 2022). The studies by ZEW in cooperation with ifm Mannheim in 2009, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2019, and 2022 on behalf of the Family Business Foundation analysed, among other things, the structural characteristics of family businesses (regional distribution, sector, size, legal form distribution) as well as their share of employment and turnover in the overall economy.

For the planned project, it is intended to present the key figures of family businesses for the current year. These are the number of family-controlled businesses and owner-managed family businesses as well as the number of employees, the share of employees in family businesses in total employment in the private sector in Germany and the share of turnover in family businesses in total turnover. For the planned project, it is also intended to present the essential structural characteristics of family businesses.