Electroluminescent body

An electroluminescent component ( 1 ), in particular an LED chip, which has a high external efficiency in conjunction with a simple construction. The electroluminescent component ( 1 ) has a substrate ( 2 ); a plurality of radiation decoupling elements arranged at a distance next to one another on the substrate ( 2 ) and having an active layer stack ( 7 ) with an emission zone ( 8 ); and a contact element ( 9 ) on each radiation decoupling element ( 4 ). The contact elements ( 9 ), whose width (b') is dimensioned such that it is less than the width (b) of the radiation decoupling elements ( 4 ), are arranged centrally on the radiation decoupling elements ( 4 ), and the width (b) of the radiation decoupling elements ( 4 ), for a given height (h), is chosen to be so small that a substantial proportion of the light ( 11 ) radiated laterally from the emission zone ( 8 ) can be decoupled directly through the side areas ( 12 ) of the radiation decoupling elements ( 4 ).