Filenews 28 October 2024
In most EU countries, in 2022, more companies were created than dissolved, according to an interesting study published by Eurostat, as a record of detailed data on the "demographic" structure of enterprises in the European Union.
The exceptions were Bulgaria, Estonia, Ireland, Denmark, Poland and Germany, where business 'death' rates were higher than 'birth' rates.
The highest business birth rates were recorded in Lithuania (18.3%), Portugal (16.7%) and Estonia (16.6%). In Cyprus the business birth rate was 9.83%.
In contrast, the lowest rates were recorded in Austria (6.2%), Denmark (7.4%) and Italy (7.9%). The birth of new businesses is often seen as one of the key determinants of job creation and economic growth.
Business births are considered to increase the competitiveness of a country's business population, forcing them to become more efficient in the face of emerging competition. As such, they stimulate innovation and facilitate the adoption of new technologies, while helping to increase overall productivity in an economy.
The highest rates of business deaths were recorded in Estonia (25.1%), Bulgaria (20.6%) and Ireland (15.6%), according to preliminary data. The lowest rates were recorded in Greece (3.1%), Belgium (5.2%) and Cyprus (5.8%).
Business X-ray
According to the data, the total number of enterprises in Europe consisted of 26.20 million active enterprises in the services sector, 3.95 million in the construction sector and 2.45 million in the industrial sector.
In fact, more than three-quarters (80.4%) of all enterprises operating in the business economy were in the service sector, providing work to over two-thirds of the total number of people employed.
Services accounted for between 65.5% of the number of all enterprises in the business economy in Slovakia and 87.6% of the total in Luxembourg. In terms of its contribution to employment, the services sector accounted for 57.2%.
In Cyprus the active enterprises in the services sector were 73,260 and employees 298, 410. In construction the active enterprises were at 10,000 and employees at 37,520 and in the industrial sector active enterprises were 5,410 and employees according to the latest available data at 42,470.
In contrast, only 7.5% of active enterprises in the EU were found in industry, even though these enterprises provided work for more than 33 million people (21.0% of total employment in the business economy). The average size of industrial enterprises (as measured in terms of number of employees) was significantly higher in industry than in services. Indeed, industrial enterprises employed an average of 13 people in the 27 Member States, compared with an average of 4 people for services.
The average number of people employed in construction was the lowest, with 3 persons per enterprise.
According to Eurostat data, the employment rate in new enterprises was 2.33% in Europe and 2.01% in Cyprus. In the rest of the countries, high percentages were recorded in Estonia 5.78%, Portugal 5.77%, Greece 6.77%, Slovakia 4.62% and the lowest Finland 0.92%, Germany 1.14%, Austria 1.28%, Sweden 0.64%.
