EU countries by enterprise births

France had the highest enterprise births of 27 EU countries in 2023, at 760,349. Luxembourg had the lowest, at 4,370. The median was 74,552 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 3.5 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest760,349France

Lowest4,370Luxembourg

Median74,55227 EU countries

European Union (27)3,496,918History

Map of EU countries, 2023

Under 24K
24K to 45K
45K to 78K
78K to 230K
230K and over

count, 2023. 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, 2023

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	2023 count	Change on 2022
1	France	760,349	+2.4%
2	Italy	359,220	-0.7%
3	Spain	319,085	+5.9%
4	Poland	314,632	-3.8%
5	Germany	268,936	+6.5%
6	Portugal	236,244	+6.2%
7	Netherlands	216,777	+5.9%
8	Romania	126,537	+7.7%
9	Czechia	120,109	+2.9%
10	Hungary	85,054	-7.5%
11	Greece	78,754	-12.7%
12	Slovakia	77,986	+1.8%
13	Sweden	74,854	-5.1%
14	Belgium	74,552	-7.3%
15	Lithuania	70,228	+16.7%
16	Ireland	47,542	0%
17	Bulgaria	43,353	+9.9%
18	Finland	40,835	+3.2%
19	Austria	37,576	+3.5%
20	Croatia	30,110	+14.8%
21	Denmark	27,825	-1.4%
22	Estonia	23,544	-8%
23	Slovenia Series break	21,133	-3.2%
24	Latvia	18,847	-9.4%
25	Malta	9,669	+31.2%
26	Cyprus	8,797	+2.1%
27	Luxembourg Series break	4,370	-7.9%

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, 2023) [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, 2023. 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=2023. 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, 2023. 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=2023.

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, 2023 [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=2023 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_enterprise_2023,
  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, 2023}},
  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=2023. 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, 2023
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=2023
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprise-births/eu-countries?period=2023.
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 760,349 in 2023, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest enterprise births?

Luxembourg, with 4,370 in 2023.

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.