At the end of 2023, the German chemical company BASF had 111,991 employees worldwide. BASF is the largest diversified chemical company worldwide and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany.
BASF’s origins
BASF is an acronym that stands for Badische Anilin und Soda Fabrik, which is German for Baden Aniline and Soda Factory. Germany’s largest chemical company was founded by Friedrich Engelhorn in 1865. Originally only operating in Germany, the company’s international expansions began in the 1960s to Europe, South America, Australia and Asia. Nevertheless, Europe continues to this day to be the company’s largest revenue generating region, as well as the largest employing region for the company. More than half of BASF’s global employees as of 2023 were based in Europe. Interestingly, of its more than 111,000 employees worldwide, three quarters of BASF’s personnel are men.
BASF today
The BASF Group compromises subsidiaries and joint ventures in more than 80 countries worldwide. It operates six integrated production sites and 390 other production sites globally. Currently, the company’s six operating segments are: Surface Technologies, Materials, Chemicals, Industrial Solutions, Agricultural Solutions, Nutrition and Care, and Other. The Surface Technologies segment generates the largest revenue share. BASF is listed on the Frankfurt, London, and Zurich Stock Exchange and is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index. Three quarters of the BASF shares are held by institutional investors, where 51 percent of the shares are held in Germany, 18 percent in the United States and Canada, and eight percent in the UK and Ireland.
