EU countries by enterprise births

France had the highest enterprise births of 27 EU countries in 2022, at 742,324. Luxembourg had the lowest, at 4,747. The median was 76,622 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 3.43 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest742,324France

Lowest4,747Luxembourg

Median76,62227 EU countries

European Union (27)3,430,956History

Map of EU countries, 2022

Under 26K
26K to 43K
43K to 86K
86K to 220K
220K and over

count, 2022. Source: Eurostat, Business demography by size class and NACE Rev. 2 activity, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprise births, number (bd_size). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2022

count. Source: Eurostat, Business demography by size class and NACE Rev. 2 activity, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprise births, number (bd_size). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2022 count	Change on 2021
1	France Series break	742,324	-4.9%
2	Italy	361,886	+0.5%
3	Poland	327,059	0%
4	Spain	301,406	-4%
5	Germany	252,479	+2.7%
6	Portugal	222,462	+25.6%
7	Netherlands	204,660	-9.4%
8	Romania	117,500	+9.7%
9	Czechia	116,705	+6%
10	Hungary	91,951	-19%
11	Greece	90,224	+41.9%
12	Belgium	80,387	+22.8%
13	Sweden Series break	78,879	-6.6%
14	Slovakia	76,622	+12.6%
15	Lithuania	60,163	+3.8%
16	Ireland	47,540	+26.4%
17	Finland	39,567	-1.9%
18	Bulgaria	39,445	+3%
19	Austria	36,294	+2.6%
20	Denmark	28,219	-14%
21	Croatia	26,222	+9.5%
22	Estonia	25,591	-26.5%
23	Slovenia	21,833	+9.1%
24	Latvia	20,800	+15.2%
25	Cyprus	8,619	+2.2%
26	Malta	7,372	-2%
27	Luxembourg Series break	4,747	+32.4%

Other periods

2024
2023
2022
2021

About this ranking

New enterprises created during the year from scratch. Enterprises formed by a merger, break-up or change of legal form, and enterprises reactivated within two years, are not births.

Counts enterprises, which can run several local units, under the harmonised Eurostat and OECD business demography rules. Not the same as active_companies (the INE business register count for Spain) or employer_firms (US firms with employees). Not comparable with companies_created (companies registered in Spain) or business_applications (US applications for an employer number).

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the EU countries are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Eurostat. Business demography by size class and NACE Rev. 2 activity, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprise births, number (bd_size). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Eurostat, European Commission. (2026). Business demography by size class and NACE Rev. 2 activity, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprise births, number (bd_size) (EU countries by enterprise births, 2022) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size/default/table

MLA 9

Business demography by size class and NACE Rev. 2 activity, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprise births, number (bd_size), EU countries by enterprise births, 2022. Eurostat, European Commission, 2 Oct. 2026, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size/default/table. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprise-births/eu-countries?period=2022. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Business demography by size class and NACE Rev. 2 activity, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprise births, number (bd_size). EU countries by enterprise births, 2022. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size/default/table. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprise-births/eu-countries?period=2022.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Business demography by size class and NACE Rev. 2 activity, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprise births, number (bd_size), EU countries by enterprise births, 2022 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprise-births/eu-countries?period=2022 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_enterprise_2022,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Business demography by size class and NACE Rev. 2 activity, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprise births, number (bd\_size): EU countries by enterprise births, 2022}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size/default/table},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprise-births/eu-countries?period=2022. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Business demography by size class and NACE Rev. 2 activity, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprise births, number (bd\_size). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd\_size/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - Eurostat, European Commission
TI  - Business demography by size class and NACE Rev. 2 activity, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprise births, number (bd_size): EU countries by enterprise births, 2022
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/02
PB  - Eurostat, European Commission
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size/default/table
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprise-births/eu-countries?period=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprise-births/eu-countries?period=2022.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Business demography by size class and NACE Rev. 2 activity, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprise births, number (bd_size). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which EU country has the highest enterprise births?

France, with 742,324 in 2022, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest enterprise births?

Luxembourg, with 4,747 in 2022.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Eurostat, European Commission, Business demography by size class and NACE Rev. 2 activity, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprise births, number (bd_size). Retrieved 2026-10-12.