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Ranked: The 100 Biggest Public Companies in the World

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1 year ago

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The Biggest Companies in the World in 2022

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This year has been shaped by uncomfortable macroeconomic headwinds.

Trillions of dollars were erased in public company market capitalizations, investor confidence waned, and cost pressures squeezed consumer pocketbooks.

Taken together, many of the world’s largest companies experienced sharp declines in market share. Still, a few companies in key sectors had positive growth over the year.

As 2022 comes to a close, the above infographic shows the biggest companies in the world, using data from Companiesmarketcap.com.

The World’s Largest Public Companies in 2022

Today, Apple stands as the world’s most valuable company, towering at a $2.3 trillion valuation.

Despite the tech downturn of 2022—driven by rising interest rates and slower sales—Apple maintained its top spot. This was largely thanks to record revenues and healthy consumer demand for iPhones, which drive about half of its total revenue.

Following Apple is Microsoft. Unlike Apple, Microsoft has faced slower earnings over the year due to lower demand for personal computers and the weighing impact of a strong U.S. dollar. Overall, about 50% of the company’s sales take place overseas.

As we show below, there are now only four companies left in the trillion dollar market cap club.

2022 Rank
CompanyMarket CapitalizationSectorLocation
1Apple$2.3TTechnology🇺🇸 U.S.
2Microsoft$1.9TTechnology🇺🇸 U.S.
3Saudi Aramco$1.8TEnergy🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
4Alphabet $1.2TTechnology🇺🇸 U.S.
5Amazon$924BConsumer Discretionary🇺🇸 U.S.
6Berkshire Hathaway$686BFinancials🇺🇸 U.S.
7Tesla$522BConsumer Discretionary🇺🇸 U.S.
8UnitedHealth Group$510BHealth Care🇺🇸 U.S.
9Johnson & Johnson$465BHealth Care🇺🇸 U.S.
10Visa$454BIndustrials🇺🇸 U.S.
11NVIDIA$437BTechnology🇺🇸 U.S.
12Exxon Mobil$437BEnergy🇺🇸 U.S.
13TSMC$417BTechnology🇹🇼 Taiwan
14Walmart$399BConsumer Discretionary🇺🇸 U.S.
15Tencent$397BTechnology🇨🇳 China
16JPMorgan Chase$394BFinancials🇺🇸 U.S.
17LVMH$377BConsumer Discretionary🇫🇷 France
18Procter & Gamble$361BConsumer Staples🇺🇸 U.S.
19Eli Lilly$349BHealth Care🇺🇸 U.S.
20Mastercard$344BIndustrials🇺🇸 U.S.
21Home Depot$334BConsumer Discretionary🇺🇸 U.S.
22Chevron$328BEnergy🇺🇸 U.S.
23Nestlé$322BConsumer Staples🇨🇭 Switzerland
24Kweichow Moutai$313BConsumer Staples🇨🇳 China
25Samsung$306BTechnology🇰🇷 South Korea
26Meta (Facebook)$304BTechnology🇺🇸 U.S.
27Pfizer$293BHealth Care🇺🇸 U.S.
28AbbVie$292BHealth Care🇺🇸 U.S.
29Novo Nordisk$292BHealth Care🇩🇰 Denmark
30Coca-Cola$277BConsumer Staples🇺🇸 U.S.
31Merck$276BHealth Care🇺🇸 U.S.
32Roche$267BHealth Care🇨🇭 Switzerland
33Bank of America$263BFinancials🇺🇸 U.S.
34Pepsico$253BConsumer Staples🇺🇸 U.S.
35ASML$247BTechnology🇳🇱 Netherlands
36Alibaba$245BConsumer Discretionary🇨🇳 China
37Broadcom$225BTechnology🇺🇸 U.S.
38Thermo Fisher Scientific$223BHealth Care🇺🇸 U.S.
39Oracle$219BTechnology🇺🇸 U.S.
40Costco$216BConsumer Discretionary🇺🇸 U.S.
41Astrazeneca$215BHealth Care🇬🇧 United Kingdom
42Reliance Industries$214BEnergy🇮🇳 India
43ICBC$208BFinancials🇨🇳 China
44McDonald's$203BConsumer Discretionary🇺🇸 U.S.
45Cisco$203BTelecommunications🇺🇸 U.S.
46Shell$201BEnergy🇳🇱 Netherlands
47Danaher$199BHealth Care🇺🇸 U.S.
48L'Oréal$197BConsumer Discretionary🇫🇷 France
49Toyota$197BConsumer Discretionary🇯🇵 Japan
50Novartis$196BHealth Care🇨🇭 Switzerland
51Abbott Laboratories$109BHealth Care🇺🇸 U.S.
52Accenture$184BIndustrials🇮🇪 Ireland
53T-Mobile$177BTelecommunications🇺🇸 U.S.
54Nike$175BConsumer Discretionary🇺🇸 U.S.
55Walt Disney$173BConsumer Discretionary🇺🇸 U.S.
56Nextera Energy$172BUtilities🇺🇸 U.S.
57Hermès$169BConsumer Discretionary🇫🇷 France
58Bristol-Myers Squibb$168BHealth Care🇺🇸 U.S.
59Linde$166BBasic Materials🇬🇧 United Kingdom
60Wells Fargo$163BFinancials🇺🇸 U.S.
61Texas Instruments$161BTechnology🇺🇸 U.S.
62BHP Group$160BBasic Materials🇦🇺 Australia
63Verizon$159BTelecommunications🇺🇸 U.S.
64Philip Morris$159BConsumer Staples🇺🇸 U.S.
65Comcast$158BTelecommunications🇺🇸 U.S.
66UPS$158BIndustrials🇺🇸 U.S.
67Adobe$157BTechnology🇺🇸 U.S.
68Morgan Stanley$154BFinancials🇺🇸 U.S.
69China Construction Bank$152BFinancials🇨🇳 China
70TotalEnergies$152BEnergy🇫🇷 France
71Charles Schwab$150BFinancials🇺🇸 U.S.
72Amgen$148BHealth Care🇺🇸 U.S.
73Raytheon Technologies$146BIndustrials🇺🇸 U.S.
74Tata Consultancy$146BTechnology🇮🇳 India
75CATL$145BConsumer Discretionary🇨🇳 China
76China Mobile$145BTelecommunications🇨🇳 China
77Honeywell$144BIndustrials🇺🇸 U.S.
78Agricultural Bank of China$141BFinancials🇨🇳 China
79Netflix$140BConsumer Discretionary🇺🇸 U.S.
80Meituan$140BTechnology🇨🇳 China
81ConocoPhillips$139BEnergy🇺🇸 U.S.
82AT&T$138BFinancials🇺🇸 U.S.
83CVS Health$136BHealth Care🇺🇸 U.S.
84Dior$136BConsumer Discretionary🇫🇷 France
85Qualcomm$136BTechnology🇺🇸 U.S.
86Prosus$135BTechnology🇳🇱 Netherlands
87RBC$135BFinancials🇨🇦 Canada
88IBM$134BTechnology🇺🇸 U.S.
89Salesforce$133BTechnology🇺🇸 U.S.
90Union Pacific$133BIndustrials🇺🇸 U.S.
91Deere & Company$132BIndustrials🇺🇸 U.S.
92Unilever$130BConsumer Staples🇬🇧 United Kingdom
93CM Bank$130BFinancials🇨🇳 China
94HDFC Bank$129BFinancials🇮🇳 India
95Elevance Health$128BHealth Care🇺🇸 U.S.
96AIA$128BFinancials🇭🇰 Hong Kong
97Lockheed Martin$127BIndustrials🇺🇸 U.S.
98PetroChina$127BEnergy🇨🇳 China
99SAP$127BTechnology🇩🇪 Germany
100Lowe's$124BConsumer Discretionary🇺🇸 U.S.

*As of Dec 12, 2022.

Oil giant Saudi Aramco is the third largest publicly-traded company globally, at $1.8 trillion. It’s also the only non-U.S. company in the top 10.

In May, the state-run company briefly became the most valuable company on the planet as soaring energy prices boosted earnings. Saudia Arabia is the largest exporter of oil in the world, and the country’s economy is forecast to grow 7.6% in 2022—one of the fastest globally.

Overall, 62 companies of the 100 largest are headquartered in the U.S., 11 are based in China, and five are located in France.

Top 10 Performance in 2022

For many of the world’s largest companies, 2022 was a brutal year for performance.

Chat showing 10 Biggest Companies in the World 2022 Performance

As the above graphic shows, the vast majority of the world’s titans saw their market values decline. Half of these companies saw double-digit drops.

Tesla has witnessed nearly 70% of its market cap being erased this year. Two main factors are behind this drop: falling demand, especially in China, and CEO Elon Musk’s volatile and risky acquisition of Twitter.

On the other hand, UnitedHealth Group has seen the strongest performance among the top 10.

The company, which rakes in a large share of its earnings from employer-backed insurance plans, said that recessionary impacts had not yet begun materializing in 2022.

Biggest Companies in the World, by Sector

Even with sinking market values across the sector in 2022, tech remains dominant.

Among the world’s biggest companies, 20 are in tech, spanning a combined market value of $9.2 trillion. For perspective, that’s about 31% of the market value of the 100 largest companies.

RankSectorCombined Market ValueNumber of CompaniesBiggest Company in Sector
1👩‍💻 Technology$9.2T20Apple
2🚗 Consumer Discretionary$4.7T17Amazon
3🩺 Health Care$4.3T17UnitedHealth Group
4🛢️ Energy$3.4T8Saudi Aramco
5💵 Financials$3.0T14Berkshire Hathaway
6🏭 Industrials$1.8T9Visa
7🥫 Consumer Staples$1.8T7Procter & Gamble
8📞 Telecommunications$841B5Cisco
9⛏️ Basic Materials$326B2Linde
10🔌 Utilities$127B1Nextera Energy

Companies are classified according to the FTSE Russell Industry Classification Benchmark. *As of Dec 12, 2022.

Consumer discretionary and health care sectors fall next in line, with big players such as Amazon and Johnson & Johnson among their ranks.

At the other end of the spectrum is utilities, the smallest sector overall at least pertaining to the largest companies list. NextEra Energy, the sole utilities company among the rankings is one of the world’s largest developers of wind and solar energy. Over the next three years, it plans to invest up to $95 billion in greening its power operations.

Change of Fortune

It comes as no surprise that many of the biggest companies in the world are long-established players in global markets.

Yet within the rankings, some of the notable risers compared to 2021 are UnitedHealth Group, which launched from #19 in 2021 to #8 this year and NVIDIA which has climbed to become the 11th largest company globally, up from #24 last year.

By contrast, some of the biggest losers are Meta (Facebook’s parent company) and Alibaba. Meta has fallen across the rankings to #26 in 2022 from #6 in 2021. Meanwhile, Alibaba was once the ninth largest globally but has tumbled to #36. Both companies have seen considerable value wiped from their market caps—roughly 66% and 28%, respectively​​—amid lagging earnings.

With the year coming to a close, it remains to be seen whether the world’s biggest companies stage a comeback in 2023, or face more challenging conditions ahead.

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Markets

Visualized: Interest Rate Forecasts for Advanced Economies

In this graphic, we show the IMF’s interest rate forecast for the U.S., Europe, the UK, and Japan for the next five years ahead.

Published

3 hours ago

on

May 1, 2024

By

This line chart shows the interest rate forecasts for advanced economies based on projections from the IMF.

Interest Rate Projections for Advanced Economies

While U.S. inflation cooled in the second half of last year, price pressures returned in 2024, leading investors to rethink how soon central bankers will cut rates.

Despite the recent increase, the interest rate forecast for many economies looks optimistic, thanks to subdued energy price shocks and abating supply chain disruptions. Still, short-term risks remain, including persistently high services inflation clouding the outlook.

This graphic shows the interest rate forecast for advanced economies, based on the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) 2024 World Economic Outlook.

Get the Key Insights of the IMF’s World Economic Outlook

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This visual is part of a special dispatch of the key takeaways exclusively for VC+ members.

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A Closer Look at the IMF Interest Rate Forecast

Below, we show the projected path of interest rates based on the IMF’s latest data:

Federal ReserveBank of EnglandECBBank of Japan
Q1 20245.4%4.0%-0.1%5.3%
Q2 20245.3%3.9%0.0%5.3%
Q3 20245.0%3.7%0.0%5.0%
Q4 20244.7%3.4%0.1%4.8%
Q1 20254.5%3.2%0.1%4.5%
Q2 20254.3%3.0%0.1%4.3%
Q3 20254.1%2.7%0.1%4.0%
Q4 20253.9%2.7%0.2%3.8%
Q1 20263.7%2.6%0.3%3.5%
Q2 20263.5%2.6%0.4%3.5%
Q3 20263.3%2.6%0.4%3.5%
Q4 20263.1%2.6%0.6%3.5%
Q1 20272.9%2.6%0.6%3.5%
Q2 20272.9%2.6%0.6%3.5%
Q3 20272.9%2.6%0.6%3.5%
Q4 20272.9%2.6%0.6%3.5%
Q1 20282.9%2.6%0.6%3.5%
Q2 20282.9%2.6%0.6%3.5%
Q3 20282.9%2.6%0.6%3.5%
Q4 20282.9%2.6%0.6%3.5%

As we can see, the U.S. is forecast to see its first rate cut in the second quarter of 2024.

Broadly speaking, rates will be cut very gradually, with two additional rate cuts anticipated for this year. By 2027, interest rates are projected to fall to 2.9% after a series of moderate rate cuts as inflation dissipates.

Like the U.S., the European Central Bank is forecast to cut rates in the second quarter of 2024, with rates set to fall to 2.6% by 2026. While inflation has cooled at a faster rate across Europe compared to the U.S., GDP growth is also projected to be more muted. This year, the IMF projects that GDP across the euro area will increase just 0.8% versus 2.7% for the U.S. economy.

In the UK, monetary easing is projected to move more gradually, with the first cut projected for the third quarter of this year. Growth across the UK economy is projected to be tepid for 2024, weighed down by the impact of higher rates, lower productivity, and sluggish investment growth.

Rates Rising Slowly in Japan

After years of enduring negative interest rates, Japan raised its short-term policy rate to 0.0-0.1% in March 2024.

This was due in part to a promising inflation outlook over the coming years. The IMF projects that the next rate hike will take place in the fourth quarter of 2024, as it moves away from a multi-decade battle with deflation.

Get the Full Analysis of the IMF’s Outlook on VC+

This visual is part of an exclusive special dispatch for VC+ members which breaks down the key takeaways from the IMF’s 2024 World Economic Outlook.

For the full set of charts and analysis, sign up for VC+.

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