In which EU countries are the most businesses being launched?

According to the most recent Eurostat data, the EU’s business ecosystem seems to be in good health.

In 2022, 3.4 million new companies opened across the block, while 2.8 million closed down.

The countries that launched the most new businesses — compared to the size of their markets — were Lithuania (18.3%), Portugal (16.7%) and Estonia (16.6%).

Austria (6.2%), Denmark (7.4%), and Italy (7.9%) reported the lowest rates of enterprise growth.

The countries with the highest share of companies that closed down were Estonia (25.1%), Bulgaria (20.6%) and Ireland (15.6%), according to Eurostat.

Overall in the EU, there are over 32 million businesses and around 160 million employees.

Micro and small enterprises — those with fewer than 50 employees — make up 99% of the EU’s business ecosystem.

Although they might be “small”, they generate almost a third of the whole EU turnover (€11.9 trillion out of €38.3 trillion).

Eurostat data also shows the biggest turnover in 2022 was generated by the industry sector (35%), followed by services (30%), trade (29%) and construction (6%).

Services, however, is the sector employing the majority of people (51%), followed by industry, trade and construction.

Video editor • Mert Can Yilmaz