US companies are investing significantly more than their European counterparts in capital expenditure and R&D, according to senior partner and McKinsey Global Institute chair Sven Smit and coauthors. The top ten US companies—the top six of which are tech companies—fueled 28 percent of overall US spending in 2022, while the top ten European companies propelled 18 percent of European spending. The top ten US companies invest three times as much as their European counterparts.
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A pair of tree maps compares the 2022 capital expenditure and R&D spending of large US corporates, in billions of euros, with that of large Europe 30 corporates (ie, EU-27 plus Norway, Switzerland, and the UK). The US total is around €1,609 billion, and the Europe 30 total is around €913 billion. The tree maps highlight the investment by the top 10 companies within each region. The top 10 US companies invest 3 times as much as Europe’s top 10, with 28% of total US spending and 18% of Europe 30’s total spending being driven by these companies.
In this chart, large corporations are defined as those with a revenue of more than $1 billion. The data considers only public companies and excludes intangible assets.
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To read the article, see “Investment: Taking the pulse of European competitiveness," June 20, 2024.