2024 global list of top chemical companies based on net income

The chemical company Linde was the number one leading global chemical company in a 2024 global ranking based on net income, with a net income of approximately 6.4 billion U.S. dollars. The Shin-Etsu Chemical Company, headquartered in Japan, was ranked second, with a net income of 3.6 billion U.S. dollars.

The significance of the global chemical industry

The chemical industry is one of the most important foundations for the world’s economy as we know it. One of the primary undertakings of this industry is the transformation of raw materials into industrial chemical products, which are fundamental for other industrial sectors. The principle chemical products are polymers and plastics, which are responsible for nearly 80 percent of the industry’s production volume. Excluding the pharmaceutical sector, the global chemical industry's revenue amounts to nearly eight trillion U.S. dollars in 2022. 

Prominent national chemical industries: Germany and the United States

Germany has an old and well-established chemical industry. Two of the largest chemical companies worldwide, BASF and Bayer, originated there. Although BASF's revenue generated in 2023 amounted to 69 billion euros, BASF had a net income of 225 million euros that year.

Like Germany, the United States is home to many of the world's leading chemical producers. The ubiquitous U.S.-based chemical companies Dow and DuPont, which were joined in September 2017 in the formation of the chemical conglomerate DowDuPont, have since been spun-off again into individual companies with discreet focus areas.