The number of active enterprises in Ireland rose by 3.0% between 2022 and 2023 from 389,654 to 401,359.
The number of persons employed in active enterprises increased by 2.3% between 2022 and 2023 from 2,292,598 to 2,345,457.
In 2023, there was a year-to-year growth in the number of enterprises and in persons employed in all employment size classes, other than small enterprises (10-49 persons employed) which contracted by 0.7% in enterprise numbers and 0.8% in persons employed.
Micro enterprises (fewer than 10 persons employed) accounted for 92.6% of enterprises in the economy in 2023 and 26.9% of persons employed, while large enterprises (250+ persons employed) accounted for 0.2% of enterprises and 33.1% of persons employed.
There was a similar number of newly active enterprises (enterprise births) in both 2023 (47,542) and 2022 (47,540), with micro enterprises accounting for 98.7% (46,947) of births in 2023.
The number of enterprises ceasing activity (enterprise deaths) in 2022 increased by 13.2% compared with 2021. The number of persons employed in enterprises ceasing activity was 46,446, a rise of 14.3% during the same period. In 2022, micro enterprises accounted for the largest proportion of enterprise deaths and persons employed in ceased enterprises.
The table below shows key figures for Business in Ireland 2023 - Insights on the Lifecycle of Businesses for years 2021, 2022, and 2023.
| Insights on the Lifecycle of Businesses, 2021-2023 | |||||
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | Percentage change 2022 - 2023 | ||
| Number of active enterprises | No. | 368,864 | 389,654 | 401,359 | 3.0% |
| Persons employed | No. | 2,070,266 | 2,292,598 | 2,345,457 | 2.3% |
| Enterprise births | No. | 37,597 | 47,540 | 47,542 | 0.0% |
| Enterprise deaths | No. | 28,7501 | 32,5402 | ||
| 1Enterprise deaths for 2021 are final deaths due to a second year of inactivity. | |||||
| 2Enterprise deaths for 2022 estimated as a second year of inactivity is necessary to be counted as a final death. | |||||
There were 401,359 active enterprises in the business economy in Ireland in 2023, representing a rise of 3.0% on the previous year.
There were more than 2.3 million persons employed in 2023, representing an annual growth rate of 2.3% from 2022.
| X-axis label | Enterprises | Persons Employed |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 368864 | 2070266 |
| 2022 | 389654 | 2292598 |
| 2023 | 401359 | 2345457 |
Most sectors saw expansion in the number of enterprises in the year. The largest growth was in the Electricity, Gas, Steam & Air Conditioning Supply sector, with an increase of 11.1%. Wholesale & Retail Trade had the only decline at -0.2%.
There was a decrease of 8.6% in employment in the Human Health & Social Work Activities sector in 2023. In all other sectors employment grew, with the biggest sectoral increase in the Electricity, Gas, Steam & Air Conditioning Supply sector, which had a rise of 9.7% in persons employed.
| X-axis label | Active enterprises | Persons employed in active enterprises |
|---|---|---|
| Mining & quarrying (B) | 1.9 | 4.4 |
| Manufacturing (C) | 2.3 | 3.1 |
| Electricity, gas, steam & air conditioning supply (D) | 11.1 | 9.7 |
| Water supply, sewerage, waste management & remediation activities (E) | 1.4 | 3.6 |
| Construction (F) | 4.3 | 4.2 |
| Wholesale & retail trade, repair of motor vehicles & motorcycles (G) | -0.2 | 1.5 |
| Transportation & storage (H) | 1.7 | 5.2 |
| Accommodation & food service activities (I) | 3.6 | 4.7 |
| Information & communication (J) | 2.5 | 1.4 |
| Financial & insurance activities (K) | 6.5 | 5.1 |
| Real estate activities (L) | 4.1 | 2.6 |
| Professional, scientific & technical activities (M) | 2.7 | 4.8 |
| Administrative & support service activities (N) | 3.9 | 3.3 |
| Education (P) | 2.3 | 1.3 |
| Human health & social work activities (Q) | 0.5 | -8.6 |
| Arts, entertainment & recreation (R) | 4.9 | 3.3 |
| Other services (S excl. S94) | 5.8 | 0.4 |
| Total business economy (B to S, excluding O and S94) | 3 | 2.3 |
The Other Services sector accounted for almost three out of five (57.4%) of all enterprises in 2023, with the Construction sector accounting for more than a fifth (20.2%).
| Percentage of active enterprises | |
| Other Services | 57.4 |
| Wholesale & Retail Trade | 12.3 |
| Industry | 5.5 |
| Construction | 20.2 |
| Financial & Insurance Activities | 4.6 |
At county level, Dublin and Cork dominated the number of enterprises, with 136,809 and 42,176 enterprises respectively. Leitrim and Longford have the fewest enterprises, with 2,667 and 2,755 enterprises respectively.
All counties saw a rise in the number of enterprises in 2023 with Laois having the largest increase at 4.5%, followed by Kildare at 4.4%. Leitrim saw the smallest increase at 1.1%.
When looking at the distribution of persons employed across all sectors in 2023, the Other Services sector accounted for 54.8% of the total, followed by Wholesale & Retail Trade (17.9%), Industry (12.8%), Construction (8.8%), and Financial & Insurance Activities (5.7%).
| Percentage of persons employed by Sector, 2023 | |
| Other Services | 54.8 |
| Wholesale & Retail Trade | 17.9 |
| Industry | 12.8 |
| Construction | 8.8 |
| Financial & Insurance Activities | 5.7 |
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (fewer than 250 persons employed) accounted for 99.8% of the total enterprise population in 2023, the majority (92.6%) of which were micro enterprises (<10 persons employed). SMEs accounted for 66.9% of total persons employed in 2023. There was annual growth in the number of enterprises and persons employed in all employment size classes, other than small enterprises (10-49 persons employed), where the number of enterprises dropped by 0.7% and persons employed fell by 0.8%.
The largest annual growth was seen in large enterprises (250+ persons employed) for both enterprise numbers (+5.5%) and persons employed (+5.7%).
| Active enterprises | Persons employed | |
| Micro (<10 persons employed) | 92.6 | 26.9 |
| Small (10-49 persons employed) | 6 | 20.6 |
| Medium (50-249 persons employed) | 1.2 | 19.4 |
| Large (250+ persons employed) | 0.2 | 33.1 |
The Other Services sector accounted for the majority of enterprises in each size class, accounting for more than half of total enterprises in each size category. Industry and the Financial & Insurance Activities sector both had more persons employed in large enterprises than in SMEs, while large Industrial enterprises made up 22.5% of all large enterprises in the total business sector. Within the Construction sector, 91.2% of persons were employed in SMEs. The majority (96.7%) of construction firms were micro enterprises.
| Industry | Construction | Wholesale & Retail Trade | Financial & Insurance Activities | Other Services | |
| Micro (<10 persons employed) | 5.2 | 21.1 | 11.4 | 4.7 | 57.6 |
| Small (10-49 persons employed) | 7.7 | 9.8 | 24.7 | 2.8 | 55.1 |
| Medium (50-249 persons employed) | 14.1 | 5.8 | 18.7 | 4.1 | 57.4 |
| Large (250+ persons employed) | 22.5 | 3.2 | 13.2 | 8.2 | 52.9 |
This Business in Ireland 2023 - Insights on the Lifecycle of Businesses release relates to the reference year of 2023. However, data on enterprise deaths (newly inactive enterprises) are available up to the reference year of 2022 only, as an enterprise needs two full years of inactivity before being declared a final 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 five-year survival rate for enterprises born in 2018 (25,794) and still active in 2023 (12,267) was 47.6%. The two-year survival rate has fallen annually from 72.3% for births in 2018 to 63.5% for births in 2021. The one-year survival rate, relating to enterprises born in 2022 (47,540) and still active in 2023 (37,919) was 79.8%.
| X-axis label | 1 year survival | 2 year survival | 3 year survival | 4 year survival | 5 year survival |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Births 2018 | 78.1 | 72.3 | 57.7 | 52.4 | 47.6 |
| Births 2019 | 81.3 | 68.7 | 61.7 | 55.6 | |
| Births 2020 | 79.9 | 68.6 | 59.8 | ||
| Births 2021 | 78 | 63.5 | |||
| Births 2022 | 79.8 |
There was a similar number of newly active enterprises (enterprise births) in both 2023 (47,542) and 2022 (47,540).
| Industry | Construction | Wholesale & Retail Trade | Financial & Insurance Activities | Other Services | Total | |
| 2023 | 2205 | 11409 | 3817 | 2753 | 27358 | 47542 |
| 2022 | 2339 | 12326 | 4032 | 2837 | 26006 | 47540 |
| 2021 | 1759 | 10509 | 2570 | 2678 | 20081 | 37597 |
There were 73,751 persons employed in newly birthed enterprises in 2023, a decrease of 6.4% from the 2022 figure of 78,755. The Other Services sector accounted for 62.0% (45,735) of persons employed in 2023 enterprise births, followed by Construction (19.2%) and Wholesale & Retail Trade (9.8%).
| Percentage of persons employed | |
| Other Services | 62 |
| Wholesale & Retail Trade | 9.8 |
| Industry | 4 |
| Construction | 19.2 |
| Financial & Insurance Activities | 4.9 |
There were 32,540 enterprises that ceased trading during 2022, employing approximately 46,446 people. This represented an increase of 13.2% in enterprise deaths compared with 2021. Enterprise death figures for 2022 are estimated, as an enterprise needs two full years of inactivity before being declared a final death.
The Other Services sector showed the highest number of enterprise deaths in 2022 with 18,191 enterprises ceasing activity or 55.9% of total deaths. The Construction sector recorded the second highest number of enterprise deaths with 7,550 or 23.2% of total enterprises ceasing activity.
| Industry | Construction | Wholesale & Retail Trade | Financial & Insurance Activities | Other Services | Total | |
| 2022 | 1550 | 7550 | 3511 | 1738 | 18191 | 32540 |
| 2021 | 1409 | 5576 | 3271 | 1625 | 16869 | 28750 |
| 2020 | 1316 | 5044 | 3262 | 1463 | 18615 | 29700 |
There were 46,446 persons employed in newly inactive enterprises in 2022. The Other Services sector accounted for 58.7% (27,282) of these persons employed, followed by the Construction sector at 19.6% (9,115). The Industry sector had the lowest number of persons employed in newly inactive enterprises in 2022 with 2,093 (4.5%).
| Percentage of persons employed | |
| Other Services | 58.7 |
| Wholesale & Retail Trade | 12.4 |
| Industry | 4.5 |
| Construction | 19.6 |
| Financial & Insurance Activities | 4.7 |
Comprehensive insight and information on businesses in Ireland
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (15 December 2025) published Business in Ireland 2023 – Insights on the Lifecycle of Businesses.
Commenting on the release, James O'Rourke, Statistician in the Integration & Structural Outputs Division, said: "Business in Ireland 2023 - Insights on the Lifecycle of Businesses provides information on the business economy in Ireland. When it comes to the lifecycle of businesses, previously referred to as Business Demography, we can see that in 2023 there was an annual growth of 3.0% in the number of active enterprises, while the number of persons employed rose by 2.3%.
Active Enterprises and Sector Analysis
Most sectors experienced an annual increase in enterprise numbers in 2023. The largest annual growth was recorded in the Electricity, Gas, Steam & Air Conditioning Supply sector, with an increase of 11.1%. Wholesale & Retail Trade was the only sector to show an annual decline in enterprise numbers (-0.2%).
The number of newly active enterprises (enterprise births) remained almost the same in 2023 at 47,542 compared with 2022 at 47,540. There were 73,751 persons employed in newly birthed enterprises in 2023, a decrease of 6.4% from the 2022 figure of 78,755. The Other Services sector accounted for 62.0% (45,735) of persons employed in 2023 enterprise births, followed by Construction (19.2%) and Wholesale & Retail Trade (9.8%).
The Other Services sector, which includes Transportation & Storage and Accommodation & Food Service Activities, accounted for 57.4% of all active enterprises in 2023 and 54.8% of persons employed. The Construction sector accounted for more than a fifth (20.2%) of enterprises, but only 8.8% of persons employed.
The number of large enterprises (250+ persons employed) represented just 0.2% of enterprises but still accounted for 33.1% of persons employed.
The Other Services sector showed the highest number of newly inactive enterprises (enterprise deaths) in 2022. In this sector alone, 18,191 enterprises ceased activity in 2022, which accounted for 55.9% of total closures.
County Breakdown
The counties of Dublin (136,809) and Cork (42,176) combined, accounted for 44.6% of all enterprises in Ireland in 2023. Dublin and Cork showed annual increases of 3.9% and 3.2% respectively. Leitrim (2,667) and Longford (2,755) had the fewest enterprises in the country. All counties saw an annual rise in its number of enterprises, with Laois having the largest growth at 4.5%, followed by Kildare at 4.4%. Leitrim saw the smallest increase at 1.1%.”