Deloitte overtakes PwC as world's largest firm

Deloitte has wrestled back its crown as the biggest firm in the world by fee income following a strong year, the global accounting firm said in a media release last week.

Deloitte powered ahead in 2016 as its global fee income grew by 5 per cent to US$36.8 billion (£29.52 billion), nudging ahead of “Big Four” rival PwC.

Last year PwC seized back the top spot after two years of playing catch- up but in 2016 it recorded only 2 per cent growth in fee income for a total of £ 28.79 billion, according to the latest global network rankings from International Accounting Bulletin, the release added.

“EY remained solidly in third place but still a long way from the top two with income of £ 21.35 billion ( 3 per cent growth year- onyear) and stayed slightly ahead of KPMG, which recorded growth of 4 per cent to £ 20.39 billion,” it said.

The top 10 are: 1. Deloitte; 2. PwC; 3. EY; 4. KPMG; 5.

Last year PwC seized back the top spot after two years of playing catch-up but in 2016 it recorded only 2 per cent growth in fee income for a total of £28.79 billion, according to the latest global network rankings from International Accounting Bulletin, the release added.

BDO; 6. RSM; 7. Grant Thornton; 8. Crowe Horwath International; 9. Baker Tilly international; and Nexia International.

The big firms continue to increase their workforce – with the “Big Four” employing almost one million people globally combined.

Deloitte is the number one employer with a total of 244,400 people working for the firm, while KPMG is fourth largest with 188,983. BDO increased its global workforce by 5 per cent to 67,731 while Grant Thornton boosted its numbers by 11 per cent to 47,004.