Working capital by sector and balance sheet class
How much of their balance sheet entities hold as working capital, measured in 797.623 filed annual accounts for financial year 2024.
The short answer
Working capital is current assets minus current liabilities. To compare balance sheets of different size, we divide it by the balance sheet total. For financial year 2024 the median was 28,9% for micro, 24,2% for small, 7,9% for medium-sized and 0,7% for large entities, classified by balance sheet total. In hospitality, negative working capital is normal.
Updated 30 October 2026
Key facts
| Definition | (Current assets − current liabilities) / balance sheet total |
| Measured in | 797.623 filings, financial year 2024 |
| Median, all classes | 24,4% of the balance sheet total |
Why working capital as a percentage
Working capital is the amount with which a company finances its running expenses: what becomes cash within a year, minus what must be paid within a year. As an amount it cannot be compared. € 100.000 of working capital is a lot for a hairdresser and little for a wholesaler.
We therefore divide it by the balance sheet total. A BV with € 300.000 of current assets, € 180.000 of current liabilities and a balance sheet total of € 600.000 has € 120.000 of working capital: 20,0% of the balance sheet. A negative result means that current liabilities are larger than current assets.
Current liabilities may be zero; those balance sheets do count here, unlike for the current ratio. If current assets or current liabilities are missing from the balance sheet altogether, the filing drops out.
National, per balance sheet class
| Balance sheet class | Balance sheets | p10 | p25 | Median | p75 | p90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Micro (balance sheet up to and including € 450.000) | 384.779 | −117,0% | −6,4% | 28,9% | 69,6% | 92,8% |
| Small (balance sheet above € 450.000 up to and including € 7,5 mln) | 368.352 | −11,9% | 2,2% | 24,2% | 54,6% | 80,2% |
| Medium-sized (balance sheet above € 7,5 mln up to and including € 25 mln) | 31.448 | −16,2% | −1,1% | 7,9% | 35,0% | 65,9% |
| Large (balance sheet above € 25 mln) | 13.044 | −16,2% | −1,2% | 0,7% | 12,6% | 46,4% |
| All classes | 797.623 | −38,2% | −0,3% | 24,4% | 60,7% | 87,3% |
The larger the balance sheet, the smaller working capital is as a share of it. For large balance sheets the median is 0,7%. There the balance sheet consists largely of fixed assets: where shown separately, they make up 95,1% of the balance sheet total at the median. For micro it is the other way round: current assets are 88,1% of the balance sheet at the median.
Working capital by SBI section, financial year 2024
Sorted by the median of balance sheet class small, with the median of micro and medium-sized in the same section. A dash means that there were fewer than 25 balance sheets.
| Section (SBI 2008) | Micro, median | Small (p25, median, p75) | Medium-sized, median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q · Health and social care | 39,3% | 13,8% – 42,8% – 69,2% | 18,8% |
| G · Wholesale and retail trade, cars | 28,4% | 14,9% – 41,4% – 64,8% | 34,8% |
| B · Mining and quarrying | 41,1% | 0,6% – 37,3% – 70,2% | 8,5% |
| C · Manufacturing | 26,9% | 11,3% – 35,5% – 58,3% | 32,2% |
| P · Education | 29,6% | 5,2% – 32,6% – 58,4% | 20,5% |
| F · Construction | 32,0% | 6,0% – 32,0% – 55,4% | 11,7% |
| J · Information and communication | 34,5% | 2,1% – 29,1% – 55,9% | 18,5% |
| E · Water and waste | 22,8% | 5,2% – 26,6% – 51,9% | 8,2% |
| S · Other services | 23,3% | 1,6% – 26,3% – 53,7% | 8,9% |
| N · Rental and other business services | 27,9% | 0,7% – 23,8% – 49,4% | 4,3% |
| M · Advisory and research, including non-financial holding companies | 30,5% | 1,5% – 22,0% – 51,7% | 9,6% |
| K · Financial institutions and financial holding companies | 26,8% | 1,9% – 19,6% – 49,1% | 6,5% |
| H · Transport and storage | 24,5% | −0,1% – 19,0% – 46,6% | 9,3% |
| A · Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 22,3% | −0,2% – 17,4% – 48,6% | 5,4% |
| R · Culture, sport and recreation | 10,5% | −4,7% – 13,9% – 42,4% | 4,7% |
| I · Hospitality | −1,7% | −8,9% – 13,3% – 43,0% | 1,2% |
| D · Energy | 0,1% | −7,4% – 6,2% – 32,8% | 0,8% |
| L · Real estate | 15,5% | −6,3% – 2,0% – 22,7% | 0,0% |
Where negative working capital is normal
In balance sheet class micro the median is zero or negative in one section: hospitality (−1,7%). In hospitality at least half of the micro balance sheets have more current liabilities than current assets. For small, real estate has the lowest median: 2,0%, with a first quartile of −6,3%.
For both, an explanation is obvious. A restaurant is paid immediately and pays its suppliers later; inventory and receivables are small. A property BV mainly owns buildings, which are fixed assets, while interest and repayment of the coming year are in current liabilities. Negative working capital is not a warning sign in itself there. For a wholesaler or manufacturer, which has to finance inventory and trade receivables, it more readily is.
Worked example: a wholesaler
| Item on 31 December | Amount |
|---|---|
| Inventories | € 700.000 |
| Accounts receivable | € 600.000 |
| Cash and cash equivalents | € 200.000 |
| Current assets | € 1.500.000 |
| Current liabilities (suppliers, bank, taxes) | € 900.000 |
| Working capital | € 600.000 |
| Balance sheet total | € 2.000.000 |
| Working capital / balance sheet total | 30,0% |
A wholesaler in a BV, balance sheet class small, has 30,0% of its balance sheet as working capital. In section G (wholesale and retail trade) the middle half for 2024 was between 14,9% and 64,8%, with a median of 41,4%. This wholesaler is therefore in the lower half. A lower share than the sector can be due to an overdraft facility at the bank, which counts as a current liability, or to generous payment terms from suppliers. Which of the two it is you do not see in the ratio but in the breakdown of the liabilities.
Reading working capital from a filed balance sheet
- Micro: the balance sheet shows current assets as one amount and liabilities split into at most one year and longer (art. 2:395a(4) DCC). Working capital is the first amount minus the current part of the liabilities.
- Small and larger: add up inventories, receivables, securities and cash and cash equivalents, or take the total of current assets if it is there. Subtract the current liabilities.
- Watch out for accruals. If they are shown separately under liabilities, they usually belong to the current part.
- Divide by the balance sheet total to compare it with the tables above.
Source and licence
Source: KVK Business Register Open Dataset Annual Accounts, adaptation Jaarrekening.io, CC BY 4.0. Data downloaded and processed on 2 November 2026.
Calculation, definitions, limitations and the download of all cells: method and sources.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
What is a healthy working capital?
That depends on the business model. For financial year 2024, median working capital in balance sheet class small was 24,2% of the balance sheet total, but 41,4% in section G (wholesale and retail trade) and 2,0% in real estate. A trading company needs more working capital than a landlord. Compare with your own sector and with your own figures from last year.
Is negative working capital a problem?
Not always. In hospitality it is normal: the median of micro BVs in section I for financial year 2024 was −1,7% of the balance sheet total, because guests pay immediately and suppliers are paid later. For a business that has to finance inventory and trade receivables, negative working capital is a sign that short-term money finances long-term assets.
How do I calculate working capital from annual accounts?
Subtract current liabilities from current assets. In a micro balance sheet, current assets are shown as one amount and, of the total of liabilities, the part falling due within a year is indicated. In a small or larger balance sheet you add up inventories, receivables, securities and cash and cash equivalents, or take the total of current assets. Divide the result by the balance sheet total to compare it with other companies.
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