This list of the oldest companies in the world includes brands and companies, excluding associations and educational, government, or religious organizations. To be listed, a

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create a ...

or company name must remain operating, either in whole or in part, since inception. Note however that such claims are often open to question and should be researched further before citing them.

Statistics

According to a report published by the Bank of Korea in 2008 that looked at 41 countries, there were 5,586 companies older than 200 years. Of these, 3,146 (56%) are in Japan, 837 (15%) in Germany, 222 (4%) in the Netherlands, and 196 (3%) in France. Of the companies with more than 100 years of history, most of them (89%) employ fewer than 300 people. In Japan, very old companies, called ''

shinise In Japan, ''shinise'' (, ) are long-established businesses that have been in operation for a long time, at least for a hundred years. Some are older than a thousand years. Japan has significantly more very old businesses than other countries, and ...

'', are particularly prestigious. A nationwide Japanese survey counted more than 21,000 companies older than 100 years as of September 30, 2009.