The 17th annual ranking of Forbes Global 2000 for 2019 has ranked Christian Dior the planet’s largest apparel company. The company is ranked on the 143rd position in the overall list and is listed as the number one company in apparel industry. Sales rose by double digits to $55 billion in 2018. It posted a 16 per cent increase for the first quarter of 2019 compared with the same period last year, with total revenues for the quarter totaling over $14 billion. The fashion house benefits from a 41 per cent stake in its parent company, LVMH, which owns 70 luxury brands including Louis Vuitton, Dom Pérignon and Sephora.

According to The Forbes Global 2000, the second-largest apparel company is Nike whose return to growth and its buzzy Colin Kaepernick ad campaign helped fuel the stock, which increased by 19 per cent in 2018. The Forbes Global 2000 is a useful indicator of which are the leading public companies in the world. The ranking is based on a mix of four metrics: sales, profit, assets and market value. Of the 61 countries represented on the list, the United States is home to the largest number, 575 companies. China and Hong Kong were next with 309, followed by Japan with 223. The breakdown looks very different than it did when Forbes first published the Global 2000 in 2003. That year, the United States contributed 776 companies while China and Hong Kong had just 43.