EU regions (NUTS 2) by enterprise births

Ile-de-France had the highest enterprise births of 231 regions in 2021, at 198,599. Åland had the lowest, at 273. The median was 9,022 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 3.4 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest198,599Ile-de-France

Lowest273Åland

Median9,022231 regions

European Union (27)3,401,779History

Top 40 regions, 2021

count. Source: Eurostat, Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprise births, number (bd_size_r). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	Regions	2021 count	Change on 2020
1	Ile-de-France Series break	198,599	n/a
2	Rhône-Alpes Series break	83,732	n/a
3	Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Series break	76,662	n/a
4	Lombardia Series break	63,086	n/a
5	Catalonia Series break	59,273	n/a
6	Andalusia Series break	55,881	n/a
7	Norte	54,996	n/a
8	Community of Madrid Series break	52,421	n/a
9	Warszawski stołeczny	49,654	n/a
10	Grande Lisboa	49,591	n/a
11	Noord-Holland	49,130	n/a
12	Aquitaine Series break	46,066	n/a
13	Lazio Series break	44,045	n/a
14	Languedoc-Roussillon Series break	37,651	n/a
15	Valencian Community Series break	37,175	n/a
16	Midi-Pyrénées Series break	36,510	n/a
17	Vidurio ir vakarų Lietuvos regionas	36,113	n/a
18	Pays de la Loire Series break	35,641	n/a
19	Campania Series break	35,619	n/a
20	Eesti Series break	34,811	n/a
21	Nord-Pas de Calais Series break	33,886	n/a
22	Małopolskie	32,310	n/a
23	Śląskie	32,032	n/a
24	Noord-Brabant	31,854	n/a
25	Wielkopolskie	31,456	n/a
26	Stockholm	31,125	n/a
27	Budapest	31,083	n/a
28	Bretagne Series break	30,371	n/a
29	Praha	29,701	n/a
30	Attiki	28,371	n/a
31	Sicilia Series break	27,635	n/a
32	Dolnośląskie	27,143	n/a
33	Veneto Series break	26,021	n/a
34	Emilia-Romagna Series break	25,454	n/a
35	Piemonte Series break	25,006	n/a
36	Pomorskie	24,214	n/a
37	Bucureşti-Ilfov	24,080	n/a
38	Toscana Series break	23,640	n/a
39	Gelderland	23,505	n/a
40	Centro (PT)	22,965	n/a
41	Eastern and Midland	22,170	n/a
42	Puglia Series break	21,890	n/a
43	Sostinės regionas	21,868	n/a
44	Centre - Val de Loire Series break	21,866	n/a
45	Západné Slovensko	20,961	n/a
46	Pest	18,838	n/a
47	Oberbayern	18,778	n/a
48	Alsace Series break	18,507	n/a
49	Łódzkie	18,138	n/a
50	Lorraine Series break	18,105	n/a
51	Berlin	18,091	n/a
52	Latvija	18,048	n/a
53	Düsseldorf	17,380	n/a
54	Poitou-Charentes Series break	16,976	n/a
55	Nord-Vest	16,890	n/a
56	Jihovýchod	16,755	n/a
57	Yugozapaden	16,704	n/a
58	Východné Slovensko	16,544	n/a
59	Bratislavský kraj	15,953	n/a
60	Helsinki-Uusimaa Series break	15,726	-1.3%
61	Canary Islands Series break	15,610	n/a
62	Västsverige	15,337	n/a
63	Darmstadt	15,288	n/a
64	Galicia Series break	15,167	n/a
65	Mazowiecki regionalny	15,158	n/a
66	Köln	15,146	n/a
67	Península de Setúbal	14,823	n/a
68	Haute-Normandie Series break	14,746	n/a
69	Zachodniopomorskie	14,623	n/a
70	Kujawsko-pomorskie	14,585	n/a
71	Stredné Slovensko	14,559	n/a
72	Podkarpackie	14,360	n/a
73	Picardie Series break	14,355	n/a
74	Lubelskie	14,252	n/a
75	Bourgogne Series break	14,247	n/a
76	Hovedstaden	13,764	n/a
77	Střední Čechy	13,696	n/a
78	Centru	13,454	n/a
79	Nord-Est	12,941	n/a
80	Basse-Normandie Series break	12,483	n/a
81	Severovýchod	12,306	n/a
82	Észak-Alföld	12,283	n/a
83	Stuttgart	12,120	n/a
84	Sydsverige	12,047	n/a
85	Zahodna Slovenija	11,964	n/a
86	Dél-Alföld	11,718	n/a
87	Overijssel	11,678	n/a
88	Sud-Muntenia	11,652	n/a
89	Közép-Dunántúl	11,508	n/a
90	Auvergne Series break	11,507	n/a
91	Oeste e Vale do Tejo	11,396	n/a
92	Basque Country Series break	11,173	n/a
93	Balearic Islands Series break	10,998	n/a
94	Calabria Series break	10,934	n/a
95	Castilla-La Mancha Series break	10,809	n/a
96	Östra Mellansverige	10,682	n/a
97	Champagne-Ardenne Series break	10,627	n/a
98	La Réunion Series break	10,564	n/a
99	Castile and León Series break	10,559	n/a
100	Sud-Est	10,542	n/a
101	Nyugat-Dunántúl	10,434	n/a
102	Limburg (NL)	10,433	n/a
103	Kentriki Makedonia	10,236	n/a
104	Vest	10,127	n/a
105	Moravskoslezsko	10,049	n/a
106	Algarve	9,994	n/a
107	Jihozápad	9,928	n/a
108	Střední Morava	9,563	n/a
109	Franche-Comté Series break	9,406	n/a
110	Sardegna Series break	9,388	n/a
111	Liguria Series break	9,347	n/a
112	Warmińsko-mazurskie	9,321	n/a
113	Southern	9,188	n/a
114	Észak-Magyarország	9,177	n/a
115	Region of Murcia Series break	9,172	n/a
116	Arnsberg	9,022	n/a
117	Jadranska Hrvatska	8,954	n/a
118	Wien	8,934	n/a
119	Schleswig-Holstein	8,801	n/a
120	Karlsruhe	8,788	n/a
121	Marche Series break	8,737	n/a
122	Hamburg	8,557	n/a
123	Länsi-Suomi Series break	8,532	+0.5%
124	Dél-Dunántúl	8,506	n/a
125	Świętokrzyskie	8,443	n/a
126	Kýpros	8,433	n/a
127	Severozápad	8,114	n/a
128	Vzhodna Slovenija	8,053	n/a
129	Abruzzo Series break	8,040	n/a
130	Lubuskie	7,803	n/a
131	Podlaskie	7,659	n/a
132	Malta Series break	7,521	n/a
133	Sud-Vest Oltenia	7,464	n/a
134	Martinique Series break	7,117	n/a
135	Grad Zagreb	6,916	n/a
136	Pohjois- ja Itä-Suomi Series break	6,908	+1.3%
137	Freiburg	6,867	n/a
138	Weser-Ems	6,831	n/a
139	Etelä-Suomi Series break	6,795	+0.1%
140	Münster	6,692	n/a
141	Midtjylland	6,618	n/a
142	Aragon Series break	6,600	n/a
143	Limousin Series break	6,412	n/a
144	Friesland (NL)	6,369	n/a
145	Yuzhen tsentralen	6,339	n/a
146	Rheinhessen-Pfalz	6,156	n/a
147	Niederösterreich	6,143	n/a
148	Flevoland	6,096	n/a
149	Alentejo	6,022	n/a
150	Guadeloupe Series break	5,964	n/a
151	Brandenburg	5,904	n/a
152	Groningen	5,876	n/a
153	Opolskie	5,857	n/a
154	Friuli-Venezia Giulia Series break	5,788	n/a
155	Hannover	5,701	n/a
156	Tübingen	5,643	n/a
157	Syddanmark	5,640	n/a
158	Schwaben	5,503	n/a
159	Extremadura Series break	5,434	n/a
160	Detmold	5,342	n/a
161	Oberösterreich	5,203	n/a
162	Asturias Series break	5,182	n/a
163	Yugoiztochen	5,134	n/a
164	Småland med öarna	5,114	n/a
165	Corse Series break	5,015	n/a
166	Steiermark	4,956	n/a
167	Umbria Series break	4,933	n/a
168	Northern and Western	4,921	n/a
169	Norra Mellansverige	4,854	n/a
170	Mittelfranken	4,846	n/a
171	Severoiztochen	4,766	n/a
172	Lüneburg	4,451	n/a
173	Drenthe	4,331	n/a
174	Panonska Hrvatska	4,328	n/a
175	Koblenz	4,195	n/a
176	Sjælland	4,174	n/a
177	Região Autónoma da Madeira	4,151	n/a
178	Zeeland	3,769	n/a
179	Sjeverna Hrvatska	3,744	n/a
180	Luxembourg	3,584	n/a
181	Sachsen-Anhalt	3,547	n/a
182	Thessalia	3,449	n/a
183	Kriti	3,387	n/a
184	Navarre Series break	3,380	n/a
185	Thüringen	3,353	n/a
186	Braunschweig	3,316	n/a
187	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	3,285	n/a
188	Unterfranken	3,232	n/a
189	Região Autónoma dos Açores	3,206	n/a
190	Dresden	3,116	n/a
191	Niederbayern	3,113	n/a
192	Tirol	3,103	n/a
193	Saarland	3,063	n/a
194	Severen tsentralen	3,045	n/a
195	Dytiki Elláda	3,044	n/a
196	Gießen	3,005	n/a
197	Kassel	2,964	n/a
198	Cantabria Series break	2,930	n/a
199	Övre Norrland	2,926	n/a
200	Basilicata Series break	2,845	n/a
201	Oberpfalz	2,770	n/a
202	Provincia Autonoma di Trento Series break	2,749	n/a
203	Leipzig	2,702	n/a
204	Notio Aigaio	2,675	n/a
205	Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano/Bozen Series break	2,613	n/a
206	Nordjylland	2,604	n/a
207	Peloponnisos	2,583	n/a
208	Mellersta Norrland	2,367	n/a
209	Chemnitz	2,357	n/a
210	Anatoliki Makedonia, Thraki	2,354	n/a
211	Salzburg	2,353	n/a
212	Severozapaden	2,326	n/a
213	Bremen	2,300	n/a
214	Oberfranken	2,193	n/a
215	Sterea Elláda	2,179	n/a
216	Kärnten	2,157	n/a
217	Guyane Series break	2,087	n/a
218	Molise Series break	1,752	n/a
219	Ionia Nisia	1,631	n/a
220	Ipeiros	1,534	n/a
221	La Rioja Series break	1,478	n/a
222	Vorarlberg	1,436	n/a
223	Mayotte Series break	1,397	n/a
224	Trier	1,328	n/a
225	Dytiki Makedonia	1,215	n/a
226	Burgenland	1,086	n/a
227	Voreio Aigaio	939	n/a
228	Valle d’Aosta/Vallée d’Aoste Series break	724	n/a
229	Melilla Series break	449	n/a
230	Ceuta Series break	342	n/a
231	Åland Series break	273	-4.2%

Other periods

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 regions are compared on one definition. 2 regions with data in other periods have no value for 2021 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Eurostat. Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprise births, number (bd_size_r). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/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 NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprise births, number (bd_size_r) (EU regions (NUTS 2) by enterprise births, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table

MLA 9

Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprise births, number (bd_size_r), EU regions (NUTS 2) by enterprise births, 2021. Eurostat, European Commission, 13 Mar. 2026, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprise-births/eu-regions?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprise births, number (bd_size_r). EU regions (NUTS 2) by enterprise births, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprise-births/eu-regions?period=2021.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprise births, number (bd_size_r), EU regions (NUTS 2) by enterprise births, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprise-births/eu-regions?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_regions_nuts_2_2021,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprise births, number (bd\_size\_r): EU regions (NUTS 2) by enterprise births, 2021}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprise-births/eu-regions?period=2021. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprise births, number (bd\_size\_r). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd\_size\_r/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - Eurostat, European Commission
TI  - Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprise births, number (bd_size_r): EU regions (NUTS 2) by enterprise births, 2021
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/03/13
PB  - Eurostat, European Commission
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprise-births/eu-regions?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprise-births/eu-regions?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprise births, number (bd_size_r). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which region has the highest enterprise births?

Ile-de-France, with 198,599 in 2021, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which region has the lowest enterprise births?

Åland, with 273 in 2021.

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 NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprise births, number (bd_size_r). Retrieved 2026-10-12. 2 regions have no value for 2021 and are not ranked.