Regions of Germany (NUTS 2) by enterprise death rate

Berlin had the highest enterprise death rate of 38 regions in 2021, at 9.04%. Oberfranken had the lowest, at 5.53%. The median was 6.77% and the figure for Germany was 6.98%. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest9.04Berlin

Lowest5.53Oberfranken

Median6.7738 regions

Germany6.98History

All regions, 2021

%. Source: Eurostat, Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, death rate, percentage of active enterprises (bd_size_r). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	Regions	2021 (%)
1	Berlin	9.04
2	Bremen	8.37
3	Hamburg	8.09
4	Darmstadt	8.07
5	Saarland	7.88
6	Düsseldorf	7.54
7	Rheinhessen-Pfalz	7.27
8	Köln	7.22
9	Karlsruhe	7.18
10	Hannover	7.1
11	Schleswig-Holstein	7.06
12	Stuttgart	7.03
13	Brandenburg	7.02
14	Gießen	6.95
14	Lüneburg	6.95
16	Oberbayern	6.93
17	Arnsberg	6.86
18	Freiburg	6.85
19	Tübingen	6.78
20	Koblenz	6.76
21	Braunschweig	6.72
22	Kassel	6.67
23	Münster	6.63
24	Leipzig	6.62
25	Weser-Ems	6.47
26	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	6.39
27	Detmold	6.31
28	Mittelfranken	6.28
29	Trier	6.18
30	Sachsen-Anhalt	6.09
31	Dresden	6.03
32	Schwaben	5.95
33	Oberpfalz	5.87
34	Thüringen	5.79
35	Unterfranken	5.72
36	Chemnitz	5.59
37	Niederbayern	5.56
38	Oberfranken	5.53

Other periods

2023
2022
2021

About this ranking

Enterprise deaths in the year as a percentage of the enterprises active in the same year. A death is an enterprise that stopped trading and was not reactivated within two years.

Eurostat and OECD harmonised business demography. The latest year is provisional until the two-year reactivation window has passed. Not an insolvency rate, and not comparable with establishment_exit_rate, which counts closed US business locations.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the regions are compared on one definition. 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, death rate, percentage of active enterprises (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, death rate, percentage of active enterprises (bd_size_r) (Regions of Germany (NUTS 2) by enterprise death rate, 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, death rate, percentage of active enterprises (bd_size_r), Regions of Germany (NUTS 2) by enterprise death rate, 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-death-rate/germany-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, death rate, percentage of active enterprises (bd_size_r). Regions of Germany (NUTS 2) by enterprise death rate, 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-death-rate/germany-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, death rate, percentage of active enterprises (bd_size_r), Regions of Germany (NUTS 2) by enterprise death rate, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprise-death-rate/germany-regions?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_regions_of_germany_nuts_2021,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, death rate, percentage of active enterprises (bd\_size\_r): Regions of Germany (NUTS 2) by enterprise death rate, 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-death-rate/germany-regions?period=2021. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, death rate, percentage of active enterprises (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, death rate, percentage of active enterprises (bd_size_r): Regions of Germany (NUTS 2) by enterprise death rate, 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-death-rate/germany-regions?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprise-death-rate/germany-regions?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, death rate, percentage of active enterprises (bd_size_r). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Rank Regions of Germany by enterprise death rate using official data, and cite the source.

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Questions

Which region has the highest enterprise death rate?

Berlin, with 9.04% in 2021, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which region has the lowest enterprise death rate?

Oberfranken, with 5.53% 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, death rate, percentage of active enterprises (bd_size_r). Retrieved 2026-10-12.