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Published: 29 October 2020

Number of enterprise openings and closures increased in 2019 from one year back

According to Statistics Finland, there were 38,600 enterprise openings in 2019. In turn, the number of enterprise closures was 21,600. There were nine per cent more enterprise openings and 11 per cent more enterprise closures than in 2018.

Enterprise openings and closures by industry in 2019

Enterprise openings and closures in 2019

According to Statistics Finland, there were 38,600 enterprise openings in 2019. There were 3,300, or nine per cent, more enterprise openings than in the previous year. Enterprise openings accounted for 9.3 per cent of the total stock of enterprises. In absolute numbers, the number of enterprise openings was clearly highest in professional, scientific and technical activities with 6,600 enterprise openings, or 17 per cent of all enterprise openings in 2019.

There were 21,600 enterprise closures in 2019. There were 2,100 enterprise closures, i.e. 11 per cent more than one year earlier. Enterprise closures accounted for 5.2 per cent of the total stock of enterprises. The number of enterprise closures was highest in trade and professional, scientific and technical activities. In both industries, enterprise closures numbered around 3,500, or in total around one-third of all enterprise closures in 2019.

Examined by legal form, 55 per cent of the enterprise openings in 2019, or 21,200 enterprises were in the corporate form of natural person and 40 per cent or 15,500 enterprises were in the form of limited companies. In all, 11,300 natural persons and 8,200 limited companies closed down. The respective percentages among all enterprise closures were 53 and 38 per cent.

Enterprise openings and closures by region in 2019

In 2019, the number of enterprise openings increased most in relative terms in Åland and in the area of the Regional State Administrative Agency (AVI) of Southern Finland, in Åland by 29 per cent and in the area of the Regional State Administrative Agency (AVI) of Southern Finland by 12 per cent from the year before. The third highest growth was recorded in the area of the Regional State Administrative Agency of Western and Inland Finland (9%), followed by the areas of the Regional State Administrative Agency of Southwest Finland (6%) and the area of the Regional State Administrative Agency of Eastern Finland (6%). Enterprise openings increased by five per cent in Lapland and by two per cent in the area of the Regional State Administrative Agency of Northern Finland.

In turn, the number of enterprise closures rose in relative terms most in the areas of the Regional State Administrative Agency (AVI) of Southern Finland (14%) and the Regional State Administrative Agency (AVI) of Eastern Finland (12%) and in Åland (12%) in 2019 from the previous year. In the area of the Regional State Administrative Agency of Northern Finland the number of enterprise closures increased by 10 per cent. The figures were lower than this in Lapland (9%), the areas of the Regional State Administrative Agencies of Western and Inland Finland (8%) and Southwest Finland (7%).

Enterprise openings and closures in 2013 to 2019 1)

1) Due to a methodological change in the source data, the number of enterprise closures has not been published for 2017. However, it has been added to the adjacent figure, but the number contains a lot of uncertainty. There is a break in the time series of enterprise closures in 2018.

Enterprise openings and closures are deduced from the Tax Administration's customer database. The figures of the statistics also include enterprise openings and closures as the result of incorporations and mergers. Changes in the Tax Administration's data systems or database maintenance can have an effect on the data of the statistics and comparability of time series.

Source: Enterprise openings and closures 2019, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Ritva Tikkanen 029 551 3300, rakenne.tilastot@stat.fi

Head of Department in charge: Mari Ylä-Jarkko

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Updated 29.10.2020