site.btaLargest Proportion of Bulgarian Companies Have Zero Employees in 2008-2012

Sofia, July 29 (BTA) - The active enterprises with zero employees represent the largest proportion of active enterprises in Bulgaria in the 2008 - 2012 period, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) reported. In 2012 such companies totalled 144,330, or 44.6 per cent of all active enterprises.

In 2012 there were 323,745 active enterprises, almost 1.2 per cent more than in 2011.

The 128,579 enterprises in the "1-4 employees" group represented 39.7 per cent of the total for 2012. The smallest proportion of enterprises (8 per cent) were in the "5-9 employees" group, while the share of "10 or more employees" group averaged 9.0 per cent for the five year period.

The persons employed in the "10 or more employees" group accounted for 70.8 per cent of all employees for the 2008-2012 period, the NSI said.

Slightly over 13.0 per cent of the enterprises were established in 2012. For the last five years, 14.1 per cent of the active enterprises during that period were registered on an average annual basis.

For the 2008-2012 period, the largest proportion of newborn enterprises was in "Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles": an average of 43.7 per cent for the period. The smallest proportion of newborn enterprises was in "Mining and quarrying": less than 0.1 per cent on the average for the period. This tendency persisted in 2012 as well.

On the whole, the structure of newborn enterprises by economic sector remained stable during the five-year period.

For the 2008-2012 period, the largest number of newborn enterprises of all groups did not hire any employees. There were 26,855 newborn enterprises in the zero employees group in 2012, followed by the "1-4 employees" group with 13,677 enterprises. In the same year, only 585 newborn enterprises had 10 or more employees.

Almost 81 per cent of the enterprises born in 2011 survive and function one year later, with 93 per cent of the enterprises in the "10 or more employees" group surviving.

A total of 35,061 enterprises were established in 2011, and 28,289 of them successfully survived in 2012. The largest proportion of surviving enterprises, 88.0 per cent, were in "Transportation and storage", and the smallest proportion, 64.7 per cent, in "Real estate activities".

Moving further away from the year of birth brings down the number of surviving enterprises in the zero employees group and the "1-4 employees" group, while the downward trend in the "5-9 employees" group and the "10 or more employees" group is much less pronounced.

Almost 8.1 per cent of the enterprises born in 2007 were still active in 2012.

The most viable enterprises are in "Construction", where 12.5 per cent of the enterprises successfully survived the five year period. The least viable companies are in "Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply", where the survival rate is as low as 3.8 per cent.