EU countries by enterprise deaths

France had the highest enterprise deaths of 27 EU countries in 2022, at 524,241. Luxembourg had the lowest, at 2,831. The median was 36,490 and the figure for the European Union (27) was 2.63 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest524,241France

Lowest2,831Luxembourg

Median36,49027 EU countries

European Union (27)2,634,249History

Map of EU countries, 2022

Under 15K
15K to 33K
33K to 50K
50K to 160K
160K 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 deaths, 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 deaths, number (bd_size). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2022 count	Change on 2021
1	France	524,241	+0.3%
2	Spain	299,847	+19.8%
3	Poland	292,942	-13.1%
4	Italy	254,408	-4.5%
5	Germany	232,089	+5.7%
6	Portugal	156,043	+21.4%
7	Hungary	151,481	+119.3%
8	Netherlands	137,731	+65.9%
9	Czechia	86,608	+22.3%
10	Romania	59,221	-11.5%
11	Sweden	50,818	-25.9%
12	Slovakia	48,555	+12.7%
13	Lithuania	43,547	+15.9%
14	Belgium	36,490	+14.2%
15	Denmark	34,652	+11.7%
16	Ireland	33,705	+17.2%
17	Bulgaria	32,846	+3.6%
18	Austria	32,255	-7.6%
19	Finland	28,107	-2.9%
20	Greece	26,874	+43.8%
21	Croatia	16,308	+13.3%
22	Slovenia	14,818	+20.4%
23	Latvia	14,243	-13.3%
24	Estonia	13,712	+12.8%
25	Malta	5,343	+4.2%
26	Cyprus	4,534	+9.6%
27	Luxembourg Series break	2,831	-1.1%

Other periods

2024
2023
2022
2021
2020

About this ranking

Enterprises that stopped trading during the year and were not reactivated within two years. Enterprises absorbed by a merger or a takeover are not deaths.

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). A death is not an insolvency: most enterprises that close do so without a formal insolvency procedure. The latest years are estimated from expected reactivations and are provisional.

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 deaths, 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 deaths, number (bd_size) (EU countries by enterprise deaths, 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 deaths, number (bd_size), EU countries by enterprise deaths, 2022. Eurostat, European Commission, 2 Oct. 2026, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size/default/table. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprise-deaths/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 deaths, number (bd_size). EU countries by enterprise deaths, 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-deaths/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 deaths, number (bd_size), EU countries by enterprise deaths, 2022 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprise-deaths/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 deaths, number (bd\_size): EU countries by enterprise deaths, 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-deaths/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 deaths, 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 deaths, number (bd_size): EU countries by enterprise deaths, 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-deaths/eu-countries?period=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprise-deaths/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 deaths, number (bd_size). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Rank EU countries by enterprise deaths using official data, and cite the source.

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Questions

Which EU country has the highest enterprise deaths?

France, with 524,241 in 2022, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest enterprise deaths?

Luxembourg, with 2,831 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 deaths, number (bd_size). Retrieved 2026-10-12.