In this year’s Global 500 list: Energy woes, retail gains, and boom times for AI and weight-loss drugs

The Global 500 reflects many of the trends we’ve detected on the region-specific lists earlier this year, because in many cases, performance trajectories of sectors transcend geography. Financial-sector companies, for instance, make up the majority of companies on the Fortune 500 (92 out of 500), Southeast Asia 500 (67), and on the Global 500, the proportion is even greater (116). Those 116 generated a combined $8.6 trillion in revenue—up 21% from the prior year—and $923 billion in profits.

One shift at the top of the list: Saudi Aramco, ranked No. 2 on the Global 500 in 2023, fell two spots this year to No. 4. Amazon instead claimed second place, behind long-reigning Walmart. Energy companies worldwide collected less revenue last year given lower oil prices—Sinopec, Exxon Mobil, and Shell felt it, too. The industry’s revenues fell by 14.6% and profits fell by 18% year over year. Still, Saudi Aramco remained the most profitable company on the Global 500 for the third year in a row: It netted $121 billion in the past year, and its combined total profits for the past five years clocks in at $523 billion. 

The numbers to know

$41 trillion… The combined revenue of the Global 500 companies on the 2024 list. This sum was roughly the same as the prior year—it increased by just 0.1% year over year—and is equivalent to about a third of global GDP.

139… The number of U.S. companies on the 2024 Fortune Global 500, up by three from last year. 

133... The number of companies from Greater China on the 2024 Fortune Global 500, down by nine from last year. 

67%... The percentage of total Global 500 revenues brought in by companies from the U.S., Greater China (including Taiwan and Hong Kong), and Japan. These countries are home to 62% of the companies on the list.

112… The number of companies that are more than 50% government-owned. Two-thirds of those are based in China.

28… The number of female CEOs of the 2024 Global 500, down from 29 last year.

13… The number of companies that made their debut on the Fortune Global 500 in 2024, including the AI-focused tech company Nvidia (No. 222), HDFC Bank (No. 306), and the maker of the blockbuster weight-loss drug Ozempic, Novo Nordisk (No. 469). Rival weight-loss drugmaker Eli Lilly returned to the list at No. 455; it was most recently No. 495 in 2021.

The big picture

The Fortune Global 500 companies are based in 238 cities and 35 countries and territories around the world. Over the past few years, analysts have monitored the neck-and-neck race for dominance of the list between Greater China and the U.S. In 2024, Greater China has fewer companies on the list than the U.S. for the first time since 2018. Still, China’s rise has been rapid: Just a decade ago, there were only 100 Chinese companies on the list; today there are 133, five of which are of Taiwan.

Deeper takeaways

Price trends helped some industries and hurt others

With lower prices at the gas pump, consumers had more to spend on other auto-related expenses, which led to an uptick in sales for Volkswagen (No. 11, and the biggest automaker on the Global 500 for the third consecutive year) and Toyota. 

They also had more to spend on dining, recreation, and shopping. The grocery and drug store and hotel and restaurant sectors saw sales growth—driven also by inflation, which didn’t curb consumer demand enough to offset those gains. The retailing sector’s profits, meanwhile, grew by 69% to $125 billion. 

The Magnificent Seven experienced various gains

Large-cap tech companies are inching (or surging) upward on the Fortune Global 500. All but one of the so-called “Magnificent Seven"—Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla—gained in rank this year by at least one place. Alphabet, which stayed at No. 17, is the exception.

Amazon is now No. 2, matching its Fortune 500 (U.S.) rank. Tesla (No. 110) leaped 42 spots from last year, fueled by a 19% gain in revenue. That’s up from its 2021 Global 500 list debut rank of No. 392. And of course, the AI-optimized chipmaker Nvidia (No. 222) made the Global list for the first time this year, though it’s been a fixture on the Fortune 500 since 2017.

The combined profits of Apple (No. 7), Alphabet, Microsoft (No. 26), and Meta Platforms (No. 66), and Nvidia totaled $312 billion. To put that in perspective, the profit of the median Global 500 company is $3 billion. 

(And keep in mind: The 2024 Global 500 reflects 2023 financial performance, so Q2 2024 earnings that have made Fortune headlines in recent days don’t come into play here.)

There’s much more to unpack in the Global 500 and its fellow 500 lists, especially when bolstered by context from the Fortune archives. I’ll be back with more analysis next Tuesday, Aug. 13. 

Lydia Belanger
Director of Production, Fortune
lydia.belanger@fortune.com