Fortune magazine has just published its traditional ranking of the 500 largest global companies. For the tenth consecutive year, Walmart ranks first as the largest company by sales, followed by the oil company Saudi Aramco, which also ranks as the most profitable company on the list, with profits of US$159,000 million. 

Any other interesting details from the list?

– The combined sales of the 500 companies in the ranking total US$41 billion, equivalent to more than one-third of the world’s GDP. Together, they employ 70 million people.

– Only 29 of the 500 companies are led by women.

– 118 of the companies in the ranking are state-owned, two-thirds of which are Chinese.

– There are 136 U.S. companies in the ranking, the highest number since 2010.

The 10 Largest Companies on the Fortune 500 List
1. Walmart (U.S.)
2. Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia)
3. State Grid (China)
4. Amazon (U.S.)
5. China National Petroleum (China)
6. Sinopec (China)
7. Exxon Mobil (U.S.)
8. Apple (U.S.)
9. Shell (U.K.)
10. UnitedHealth Group (U.S.)