In 2022, there was a total of over 32 million enterprises in the EU, 3.4 million new enterprises were born that year, and according to the preliminary data, 2.8 enterprise deaths were registered. The enterprise birth rate was 10.5% while the preliminary rate of enterprise deaths stood at 8.7%.

This information comes from data on business demography published by Eurostat today. The article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article on business demography.

Source dataset: bd_l_form

In most EU countries, in 2022, more companies were created than dissolved. The exceptions were Bulgaria, Estonia, Ireland, Denmark, Poland and Germany, where the death rates of enterprises were higher than the birth rates.

The highest enterprise birth rates were recorded in Lithuania (18.3%), Portugal (16.7%) and Estonia (16.6%). In contrast, the lowest rates were registered in Austria (6.2%), Denmark (7.4%) and Italy (7.9%). 

The highest death rates of enterprises were registered in Estonia (25.1%), Bulgaria (20.6%) and Ireland (15.6%), according to the preliminary data. The lowest rates were registered in Greece (3.1%), Belgium (5.2%) and Cyprus (5.8%).