New business density (new registrations per 1,000 people ages 15-64) - Country Ranking - Europe

Definition: New businesses registered are the number of new limited liability corporations registered in the calendar year.

Source: World Bank's Entrepreneurship Survey and database (http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploretopics/entrepreneurship).

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 Estonia 24.19 2020
2 United Kingdom 18.11 2020
3 Luxembourg 17.19 2018
4 Cyprus 13.26 2020
5 Iceland 10.44 2020
6 Malta 10.05 2020
7 Denmark 10.02 2018
8 Norway 9.44 2020
9 Sweden 8.98 2020
10 Montenegro 7.95 2020
11 Latvia 6.89 2020
12 Ireland 6.78 2020
13 Romania 6.23 2020
14 Finland 5.88 2020
15 Portugal 5.45 2020
16 France 5.25 2020
17 Slovak Republic 5.13 2020
18 Belgium 4.67 2020
19 Switzerland 4.64 2019
20 Croatia 4.44 2020
21 Hungary 4.01 2020
22 Czech Republic 3.79 2020
23 North Macedonia 3.46 2020
24 Netherlands 3.10 2020
25 Lithuania 2.97 2020
26 Italy 2.96 2018
27 Spain 2.50 2020
28 Slovenia 2.42 2020
29 Serbia 1.99 2020
30 Moldova 1.86 2018
31 Turkey 1.77 2020
32 Greece 1.76 2020
33 Ukraine 1.68 2017
34 Poland 1.64 2020
35 Albania 1.52 2020
36 Bulgaria 1.41 2020
37 Germany 1.36 2020
38 Belarus 1.14 2020
39 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1.01 2020
40 Austria 0.53 2020
41 Liechtenstein 0.00 2020

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Development Relevance: Entrepreneurship is a critical part of economic development and growth and important for the continued dynamism of the modern economy. To measure entrepreneurial activity, annual data is collected directly from 139 company registrars on the number of newly registered firms over the past seven years. The data shows the trends in new firm creation across regions, the relationship between entrepreneurship and the business environment and financial development, and the financial crisis' effect on the entrepreneurial activity in the formal sector. Private sector development and investment - tapping private sector initiative and investment for socially useful purposes - are critical for poverty reduction. In parallel with public sector efforts, private investment, especially in competitive markets, has tremendous potential to contribute to growth. Private markets are the engine of productivity growth, creating productive jobs and higher incomes. And with government playing a complementary role of regulation, funding, and service provision, private initiative and investment can help provide the basic services and conditions that empower poor people - by improving health, education, and infrastructure.

Limitations and Exceptions: The definition of entrepreneurship used is limited to the formal sector. Yet, it should be noted that the exclusion of the informal sector is based on the difficulties of quantifying the number of firms that compose it, rather than on its relevance for developing economies. The Entrepreneurship Database facilitates the analysis of the growth of the formal private sector and the identification of factors that encourage firms to begin operations in or transition to the formal sector. Data is collected all limited liability corporations regardless of size. Partnerships and sole proprietorships are not considered in the analysis due to the differences with respect to their definition and regulation worldwide. Data on the number of total or closed firms are not included due to heterogeneity in how these entities are defined and measured. The data itself only provides a snapshot of a given economy's business demographics, and cannot by itself explain the factors that affect the business creation cycle. However, when the Entrepreneurship Database is combined with other data such as the Doing Business Report, Investment Climate Assessments, and/or OECD Entrepreneurship Indicators, researchers and policymakers can better understand the dynamics of the business creation process. The Entrepreneurship Database is a critical source of data that facilitates the measurement of entrepreneurial activity across countries and over time. The data also allows for a deeper understanding of the relationship between new firm registration, the regulatory environment, and economic growth. Previous research using the Entrepreneurship Database has shown a significant relationship between the level of cost, time, and procedures required to start a business and new firm registration.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: The new business entry density, which is the number of newly registered limited liability corporations per calendar year, normalized by working age population. This is a valuable indicator which quantifies the impact of regulatory, political, and macroeconomic institutional changes on new business registration, a vital component of a dynamic private sector. The data includes all limited liability corporations regardless of size. Partnerships and sole proprietorships are not considered in the analysis due to the differences with respect to their definition and regulation worldwide. Data on the number of total or closed firms are not included due to heterogeneity in how these entities are defined and measured. To facilitate cross-country comparability, the Entrepreneurship Database employs a consistent unit of measurement, source of information, and concept of entrepreneurship that is applicable and available among the diverse sample of participating economies. The data collection process involves telephone interviews and email correspondence with business registries in 139 economies. The main sources of information for this study are national business registries. In a limited number of cases where the business registry was unable to provide the data - most often due to an absence of digitized registration systems - the Entrepreneurship Database uses other alternatives sources, such as statistical agencies, tax and labor agencies, chambers of commerce, and private vendors or publicly available data. The units of measurement are private, formal sector companies with limited liability.

Aggregation method: Unweighted average

Periodicity: Annual

General Comments: For cross-country comparability, only limited liability corporations that operate in the formal sector are included.