Business in Ireland 2022 - Insights on the Lifecycle of Businesses

Summary Figures

The table below shows summary figures for Business in Ireland 2022 - Insights on the Lifecycle of Businesses for years 2021 and 2022.

Annual Changes and Sectoral Comparison

There were 389,654 active enterprises in the business economy in Ireland in 2022, representing a rise of 5.6% on the previous year. All sectors saw expansion in the number of enterprises in the year. The largest growth was in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation sector, with an increase of 10.9%. Wholesale & Retail Trade had the lowest rise of all the sectors at 1.8%. There were just under 2.3 million people engaged. This represents a growth of 10.7% in the number of people engaged from 2021.

There was a slight decrease in employment in the Electricity, Gas, Steam & Air Conditioning Supply sector, with a -0.2% decrease in the year. In all other sectors, employment grew with the biggest sectoral increase in the Accommodation & Food Service Activities sector, which had a rise of 38.6% in people engaged. The overall expansion in employment was distributed across all size classes with the largest numerical growth in the 250 employees and over class (See Summary Table and Tables 1, 2, 3, and 4).

The Other Services sector accounted for almost three out of five (57.4%) of all enterprises in 2022, with the Construction sector accounting for just under a fifth (19.9%). While all sectors grew over the year between 2021 and 2022 inclusive, the largest growth was in Arts, Entertainment & Recreation at 10.9% followed by Construction at 10.3%. Growth for both Financial & Insurance Activities and Other Services was at 5.2% (See Figures 2 & 3, Tables 1, 2, and 4, and the Summary Table).

At the county level, Dublin and Cork dominate the number of enterprises, with 131,652 and 40,869 enterprises respectively. Leitrim and Longford have the fewest enterprises, with 2,638 and 2,649 enterprises respectively (See Figure Map 1).

All counties saw a rise in the number of enterprises in 2022 with Dublin having the largest increase at 7.1% followed by Carlow at 6.7%. Waterford saw the smallest increase at 3.5%.

Size Class Composition of the Business Economy

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) accounted for 99.8% of the total enterprise population for 2022. They also accounted for 67.9% of total people engaged, with large enterprises (employing 250 or more people) sharing 32.1% of people engaged, despite accounting for only a small fraction (0.2%) of total enterprise numbers.

 

Across each size class the Other Services sector had the majority of enterprises, with 57.6% (223,836) of enterprises employing fewer than 10 people and had 55.9% (13,669) in the 10 to 49 employee size category. Industry represented 21.8% (193) of large enterprises (250 or more employees), with Construction contributing 3.2% (28) of large enterprises (See Figures 5 & 6 and Tables 3 & 4).

Enterprise Survivals, Births and Deaths

This Business in Ireland 2022 - Insights on the Lifecycle of Businesses release relates to the reference year of 2022. However, data on enterprise deaths (newly inactive enterprises) are available up to the reference year of 2021 only, since two complete sets of yearly data are required for an enterprise to be declared a final enterprise death. All annual enterprise births (newly active enterprises) will be followed for five years to assess their survival rate and the resulting effect on employment.

 

The one-year survival rate (relating to enterprises born in one year and still active in the next year) was 78% for enterprises born in 2021 who were still active in 2022 (See Figure 7 and Table 5).

Newly Active Enterprises (Enterprise Births)

There were 47,540 new enterprise births (newly active enterprises) in 2022, an increase of 26.4% on 2021.

The largest numerical growth in the number of births was in the Professional, Scientific & Technical Activities sector which rose by 1,895 enterprises, from 3,871 in 2021 to 5,766 in 2022. The number of enterprise births rose across all sectors, except for the Education sector which decreased by 154 births (-9.4%) when compared with 2021 births in the same sector.

Compared with 2021, the number of enterprise births in 2022 grew in the Construction (+1,817), Wholesale & Retail Trade (+1,462), and Accommodation & Food Service Activities sectors (+1,425) (See Figures 8, 9, and Table 5).

There were 78,755 people engaged in newly birthed enterprises in 2022. This is an increase from the 2021 figure of 41,448 people engaged in newly birthed enterprises. The Other Services sector accounted for 62.1% (48,938) of people engaged in enterprise births, followed by Construction (19.2%) and Wholesale & Retail (10%) (See Figure 9).

Inactive Enterprises (Enterprise Deaths)

There were 28,378 enterprises that ceased trading during 2021, containing approximately 45,392 people engaged. This represents a decrease of 4.5% in enterprise deaths compared with 2020. Enterprise death figures for 2021 are estimated, as an enterprise needs two full years of inactivity before being declared a final death.

The number of enterprise deaths increased across ten sectors and declined across seven sectors in 2021. Compared with 2020 the largest rise was in the Electricity, Gas, Steam & Air Conditioning Supply sector (+170.4%), while the largest decrease was in the Transportation & Storage sector (-33.1%).

The Other Services sector showed the highest number of enterprise deaths with 16,481 enterprises ceasing activity or 58.1% of total deaths. The Construction sector was responsible for the second largest number of deaths at 5,566 (19.6%) (See Figure 10 and Table 6).

There were 45,392 people engaged in enterprise deaths in 2021. The Other Services sector accounted for 60.6% (27,494) of these, followed by the Construction sector with 14.8% (6,724). The Financial & Insurance Activities sector had the least with 5.3% (2,412) (See Figure 11).