6.3% dissolutions in 2021
At 10.2% was the rate of “birth” of new businesses in Cyprus in 2021, while the rate of “deaths” of businesses was at 6.3%, according to data published by Eurostat, the EU's statistical agency, and they are the first recording detailed data on the “demographic” structure of businesses in the European Union.
At EU level, the rate of new business creation stood at 10.7%, while preliminary estimates for business closures show a rate of 8.5%, which means that in 2021 more new companies were opened in the EU than closed.
This trend is recorded in most EU countries, where more businesses were created than were dissolved. The exceptions were Estonia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Poland, Denmark and Germany, where the number of businesses that were dissolved exceeded the number of businesses that were created.
The highest rates of new business creation in the EU in 2021 were recorded in Lithuania (20.2%), France (16.2%) and Malta and Portugal (both 14.4%)
The lowest rates were recorded in Estonia (3.1%), Austria (6.0%) and Greece (7.2%).
According to Eurostat data, companies in the service sector show particular momentum, as companies in the education sector and companies in the arts, entertainment and leisure sector recorded birth rates of new companies greater than 10% in 18 of the 27 Member States.
The average number of people employed in new companies in 2021 ranged from 0.4 people in the Netherlands to 2.3 people in Lithuania. The EU-wide average was 1.1 people. In Cyprus this average was 1 person.
Based on the rates for the dissolution of businesses, which are preliminary for several member states, the lowest rates were recorded in Greece (2 .2%), Belgium (3.6%) and the Netherlands (4.2%).
Estonia recorded the highest percentage of business “deaths” with 23 .4%, followed by Lithuania with 22.6% and Bulgaria with 17.6%.
