site.btaIn 2022, Bulgaria Had More Businesses Dissolved than Opened, Bucking EU Trend

In 2022, in most EU countries, more companies were created than dissolved, Bulgaria being one of the exceptions with an enterprise death rate higher than the birth rate, according to Eurostat preliminary data published on Friday. The other exceptions were Estonia, Ireland, Denmark, Poland and Germany.

The EU's enterprise birth rate was 10.5% while the preliminary rate of enterprise deaths stood at 8.7%, Eurostat said.

In 2022, Bulgaria had the second highest enterprise death rate (20.6%) after Estonia (25.1%), with Ireland (15.6%) in third place. The lowest enterprise death rates were registered in Greece (3.1%), Belgium (5.2%) and Cyprus (5.8%).

Bulgaria had a 10% enterprise birth rate in 2022. The highest enterprise birth rates were recorded in Lithuania (18.3%), Portugal (16.7%) and Estonia (16.6%). In contrast, the lowest birth rates were registered in Austria (6.2%), Denmark (7.4%) and Italy (7.9%). 

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.