The CEE Top 500 ranks the 500 biggest companies in the region by turnover. These top players increased their turnover by 4.2% to nearly 593 billion EUR and enlarged their staff by 0.5%. The ongoing upward trend was also recorded by the majority of the sectors in the CEE Top 500. Twelve out of thirteen sectors increased their turnover compared to the previous year. Strong rises were achieved by textiles, leather & clothing on +14.8% and automotive & transport on +10.3%. The only sector to see a decrease in its turnover was minerals, chemicals, petroleum, plastics & pharma on -8.3%.  

Favorable business conditions extended into 2016. The forecast for the CEE region in 2016 is nearly on the same level as 2015 with an estimated average growth rate of 3.0%. A further improvement in the labor market and growing confidence will strengthen household consumption as the main growth driver of the CEE economies. The contribution of investments will not be as high as last year due to a slow start of new EU co-financed projects weakening the expansion of the construction sector and various other associated industries. On the external side CEE countries will remain active exporters, although the slowdown in global trade may hamper their ambitions. LINK