Regions of Germany (NUTS 2) by enterprise deaths

Oberbayern had the highest enterprise deaths of 38 regions in 2021, at 16,446. Trier had the lowest, at 1,120. The median was 4,458 and the figure for Germany was 219,659. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest16,446Oberbayern

Lowest1,120Trier

Median4,45838 regions

Germany219,659History

All regions, 2021

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

Full ranking

Rank	Regions	2021 count	Change on 2020
1	Oberbayern	16,446	-3.4%
2	Düsseldorf	15,017	-6.2%
3	Berlin	15,008	-10.9%
4	Darmstadt	13,703	-8.3%
5	Köln	12,824	-8.2%
6	Stuttgart	10,952	-9.5%
7	Arnsberg	8,024	-4.3%
8	Schleswig-Holstein	7,924	-7.5%
9	Karlsruhe	7,754	-10.8%
10	Hamburg	7,289	-11.1%
11	Brandenburg	6,264	-8.7%
12	Freiburg	6,062	-6.6%
13	Münster	5,801	-5.3%
14	Weser-Ems	5,675	-3.9%
15	Rheinhessen-Pfalz	5,133	-6%
16	Hannover	5,112	-5.5%
17	Tübingen	4,956	-4.1%
18	Schwaben	4,637	-3.5%
19	Detmold	4,620	-7.7%
20	Mittelfranken	4,296	-2.9%
21	Thüringen	4,071	-9.8%
22	Lüneburg	4,014	-4.7%
23	Sachsen-Anhalt	3,877	-11.3%
24	Koblenz	3,753	-7.1%
25	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	3,491	-6.3%
26	Dresden	3,367	-9.5%
27	Niederbayern	2,921	-6.1%
28	Braunschweig	2,877	-13%
29	Unterfranken	2,850	-4.8%
30	Chemnitz	2,833	-11.6%
31	Saarland	2,728	-6.6%
32	Kassel	2,669	-5.3%
33	Gießen	2,560	-9.7%
34	Leipzig	2,498	-10%
35	Oberpfalz	2,488	-1.8%
36	Oberfranken	2,112	-5%
37	Bremen	1,933	-9.9%
38	Trier	1,120	-6.6%

Other periods

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 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, enterprise deaths, 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 deaths, number (bd_size_r) (Regions of Germany (NUTS 2) by enterprise deaths, 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 deaths, number (bd_size_r), Regions of Germany (NUTS 2) by enterprise deaths, 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-deaths/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, enterprise deaths, number (bd_size_r). Regions of Germany (NUTS 2) by enterprise deaths, 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-deaths/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, enterprise deaths, number (bd_size_r), Regions of Germany (NUTS 2) by enterprise deaths, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprise-deaths/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, enterprise deaths, number (bd\_size\_r): Regions of Germany (NUTS 2) by enterprise deaths, 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-deaths/germany-regions?period=2021. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprise deaths, 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 deaths, number (bd_size_r): Regions of Germany (NUTS 2) by enterprise deaths, 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-deaths/germany-regions?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/enterprise-deaths/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, enterprise deaths, 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 deaths?

Oberbayern, with 16,446 in 2021, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which region has the lowest enterprise deaths?

Trier, with 1,120 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 deaths, number (bd_size_r). Retrieved 2026-10-12.