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Published: 28 October 2021

Number of enterprise openings and closures increased in 2020 from one year ago

According to Statistics Finland, there were 39,700 enterprise openings in 2020. In turn, the number of enterprise closures was 25,300. There were three per cent more enterprise openings and 21 per cent more enterprise closures than in 2019.

Enterprise openings and closures by industry in 2020

Enterprise openings and closures in 2020

According to Statistics Finland, there were 39,700 enterprise openings in 2020. There were 1,000, or three per cent, more enterprise openings than in 2019. Enterprise openings accounted for 9.1 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 6,900 enterprise openings, or 17 per cent of all enterprise openings in 2020.

There were 25,300 enterprise closures in 2020. There were 4,400 enterprise closures, i.e. 21 per cent, more than one year earlier. Enterprise closures accounted for 5.8 per cent of the total stock of enterprises. The number of enterprise closures was highest in professional, scientific and technical activities (4,000 enterprises).

Examined by legal form, 51 per cent of the enterprise openings in 2020, or 20,400 enterprises were in the corporate form of natural person and 44 per cent or 17,500 enterprises were in the form of limited companies. In all, 13,900 natural persons and 9,000 limited companies closed down. The respective percentages among all enterprise closures were 55 and 36 per cent.

Enterprise openings and closures by region in 2020

In 2020, the number of enterprise openings increased in relative terms most in the area of the Regional State Administrative Agency (AVI) for Lapland, by eight per cent from the previous year. In the areas of the Regional State Administrative Agencies (AVI) for Northern and Western Finland the growth amounted to seven per cent, in Eastern Finland to six per cent and in Southern Finland to three per cent. The growth was lowest in the areas of the Regional State Administrative Agency for Åland and Southwestern Finland, around two per cent.

In relative terms, the number of enterprise closures increased most year-on-year in the areas of the Regional State Administrative Agency for Lapland (31%), Southern Finland (23%) and Northern Finland (21%). In the area of the Regional State Administrative Agency for Southwestern Finland the number of enterprise closures increased by 18 per cent. In the areas of the Regional State Administrative Agency for Western Finland (16%), Åland (15%) and Eastern Finland (14%) the increase in closures was also high.

Enterprise openings and closures in 2013 to 2020

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 2020, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Tommi Veistämö 029 551 3546, Mira Kuussaari 0295513538, rakenne.tilastot@stat.fi

Head of Department in charge: Katri Kaaja

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• Number of enterprise closures grew by 21 per cent in 2020 (28.10.2021)

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Updated 28.10.2021