The number of active enterprises in Ireland increased by 2.2% between 2023 and 2024, from 401,359 to 410,205.
The number of persons employed in active enterprises rose by 3.5% between 2023 and 2024 from 2,345,457 to 2,428,464.
In 2024, there was a year-to-year growth in the number of enterprises and persons employed in all employment size classes, with the largest annual increases in enterprises (+5.6%) and persons employed (+5.8%) occurring in small enterprises (10 to 49 persons employed).
Micro enterprises (fewer than 10 persons employed) accounted for 92.3% of enterprises in the economy in 2024 and 26.5% of persons employed, while large enterprises (250+ persons employed) accounted for 0.2% of enterprises and 33.1% of persons employed.
There was a decline of 6.6% in the number of newly active enterprises (enterprise births) between 2023 (47,542) and 2024 (44,418), with micro enterprises accounting for 98.7% (43,829) of births in 2024.
The number of enterprises ceasing activity (enterprise deaths) in 2023 rose by 3.2% compared with 2022. During the same period, the annual number of persons employed in enterprises ceasing activity was 50,036, up 0.2%. In 2023, micro enterprises accounted for the largest proportion of enterprise deaths (99.1%) and persons employed in ceased enterprises (86.5%).
The one-year survival rate, relating to newly active enterprises in 2023 (47,542) and still active in 2024 (37,392) was 78.7%.
Dublin (138,989) and Cork (43,139) combined accounted for 44.4% of all active enterprises in Ireland in 2024.
The table below shows key figures for Business in Ireland 2024 - Insights on the Lifecycle of Businesses for years 2022, 2023, and 2024.
| Insights on the Lifecycle of Businesses, 2022-2024 | |||||
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Percentage change 2023-2024 | ||
| Number of active enterprises | No. | 389,654 | 401,359 | 410,205 | 2.2% |
| Persons employed | No. | 2,292,598 | 2,345,457 | 2,428,464 | 3.5% |
| Enterprise births | No. | 47,540 | 47,542 | 44,418 | -6.6% |
| Enterprise deaths | No. | 33,7051 | 34,7972 | ||
| 1Enterprise deaths for 2022 are final deaths due to a second year of inactivity. | |||||
| 2Enterprise deaths for 2023 estimated as a second year of inactivity is necessary to be counted as a final death. | |||||
There were 410,205 active enterprises in the business economy in Ireland in 2024, representing a rise of 2.2% on the previous year.
There were more than 2.4 million persons employed in 2024, representing an annual growth rate of 3.5% from 2023.
| X-axis label | Enterprises | Persons Employed |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 389654 | 2292598 |
| 2023 | 401359 | 2345457 |
| 2024 | 410205 | 2428464 |
Most sectors saw expansion in the number of enterprises in 2024. The largest annual growth was in the Human Health & Social Work Activities sector, with an increase of 7.4%. The Mining & Quarrying sector observed the largest annual decline (-18.0%).
There were annual employment decreases in Mining & Quarrying (-10.6%), Electricity, Gas, Steam & Air Conditioning Supply (-1.0%), and Financial & Insurance Activities (-0.2%). In all other sectors employment grew, with the biggest sectoral increase in the Human Health & Social Work Activities sector, which had a rise of 20.7% in persons employed.
| Active enterprises | Person employed in active enterprises | |
| Mining & quarrying (B) | -18 | -10.6 |
| Manufacturing (C) | 1 | 2.2 |
| Electricity, gas, steam & air conditioning supply (D) | 3.9 | -1 |
| Water supply, sewerage, waste management & remediation activities (E) | -2.3 | 4.1 |
| Construction (F) | -1.3 | 1.6 |
| Wholesale & retail trade, repair of motor vehicles & motorcycles (G) | 0.2 | 1.4 |
| Transportation & storage (H) | 1.9 | 3.5 |
| Accommodation & food service activities (I) | 1.8 | 1.8 |
| Information & communication (J) | 2.8 | 0 |
| Financial & insurance activities (K) | 6.8 | -0.2 |
| Real estate activities (L) | 3.6 | 8.1 |
| Professional, scientific & technical activities (M) | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| Administrative & support service activities (N) | 4.3 | 0.8 |
| Education (P) | 3.2 | 8.6 |
| Human health & social work activities (Q) | 7.4 | 20.7 |
| Arts, entertainment & recreation (R) | 4 | 8.9 |
| Other services (S excl. S94) | 4.9 | 3.4 |
| Total business economy (B to S, excluding O and S94) | 2.2 | 3.5 |
The Other Services sector accounted for almost three out of five (58.2%) of all enterprises in 2024, with the Construction sector accounting for almost one fifth (19.5%).
| Percentage of active enterprises | |
| Other Services | 58.2 |
| Wholesale & Retail Trade | 12 |
| Industry | 5.4 |
| Construction | 19.5 |
| Financial & Insurance Activities | 4.8 |
At county level in 2024, Dublin and Cork dominated the number of active enterprises with 138,989 and 43,139 enterprises, respectively, representing 44.4% of all active enterprises in the country. Dublin also represented 47.6% of persons engaged nationally in 2024, with Cork representing 9.8%.
Leitrim accounted for the fewest number of both active enterprises (2,753) and persons engaged (9,637) in 2024.
All counties saw a rise in the number of enterprises in 2024, with Monaghan observing the largest increase of 3.9%, followed by Clare (3.8%). Wicklow saw the smallest increase at 1.0%.
When looking at the distribution of persons employed across all sectors in 2024, the Other Services sector accounted for 55.7% of the overall total, followed by Wholesale & Retail Trade (17.5%), Industry (12.6%), Construction (8.6%), and Financial & Insurance Activities (5.5%).
| Percentage of persons employed | |
| Other Services | 55.7 |
| Wholesale & Retail Trade | 17.5 |
| Industry | 12.6 |
| Construction | 8.6 |
| Financial & Insurance Activities | 5.5 |
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (fewer than 250 persons employed) accounted for 99.8% of the total enterprise population in 2024, the majority (92.3%) of which were micro enterprises (<10 persons employed). SMEs accounted for 66.9% of total persons employed in 2024.
There was annual growth in the number of enterprises and persons employed across all employment size classes, with the largest annual growth observed in small enterprises (10 - 49 persons employed) for both enterprise numbers (+5.6%) and persons employed (+5.8%).
| Active enterprises | Persons employed | |
| Micro (<10 persons employed) | 92.3 | 26.5 |
| Small (10-49 persons employed) | 6.2 | 21 |
| Medium (50-249 persons employed) | 1.2 | 19.5 |
| Large (250+ persons employed) | 0.2 | 33.1 |
The Other Services sector accounted for the majority of enterprises in each size class in 2024, accounting for more than half of total enterprises in each size category.
Over one fifth (20.4%) of micro enterprises and were in the Construction sector, with this sector also accounting for 18.7% of persons employed in all micro enterprises (less than 10 employees).
The Industry and Financial & Insurance Activities sectors both had more persons employed in large enterprises than in SMEs, while large Industrial enterprises made up 21.2% of all large enterprises in the total business sector.
| X-axis label | Other Services | Financial & Insurance Activities | Wholesale & Retail Trade | Construction | Industry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Micro (<10 persons employed) | 58.4 | 5 | 11.1 | 20.4 | 5.1 |
| Small (10 - 49 persons employed) | 56.6 | 2.7 | 23.7 | 9.6 | 7.3 |
| Medium (50-249 persons employed) | 58.3 | 4.2 | 18.2 | 5.7 | 13.5 |
| Large (250+ persons employed) | 55.2 | 7.3 | 13 | 3.2 | 21.2 |
This Business in Ireland 2024 - Insights on the Lifecycle of Businesses release relates to the reference year of 2024. However, data on enterprise deaths (newly inactive enterprises) are available up to the reference year of 2023 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 birthed in 2019 (26,910) and still active in 2024 (13,633) was 50.7%. The two-year survival rate has fallen annually from 2019 (68.7%) to 2021 (63.5%) but increased in 2022 (65.3%). The one-year survival rate, relating to enterprises birthed in 2023 (47,542) and still active in 2024 (37,392) was 78.7%.
| X-axis label | 1 year survival | 2 year survival | 3 year survival | 4 year survival | 5 year survival |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Births 2019 | 81.3 | 68.7 | 61.7 | 55.6 | 50.7 |
| Births 2020 | 79.9 | 68.6 | 59.8 | 52.6 | |
| Births 2021 | 78 | 63.5 | 52.7 | ||
| Births 2022 | 79.8 | 65.3 | |||
| Births 2023 | 78.7 |
There was a decrease (-6.6%) in the total number of newly active enterprises (enterprise births) in 2024 (44,418) compared with 2023 (47,542). The largest annual decrease in birthed enterprises was recorded in the Construction sector (-13.9%) from 11,409 in 2023 to 9,826 in 2024.
| Industry | Construction | Wholesale & Retail Trade | Financial & Insurance Activities | Other Services | Total | |
| 2024 | 2073 | 9826 | 3823 | 2808 | 25888 | 44418 |
| 2023 | 2205 | 11409 | 3817 | 2753 | 27358 | 47542 |
| 2022 | 2339 | 12326 | 4032 | 2837 | 26006 | 47540 |
There were 74,324 persons employed in newly birthed enterprises in 2024, an increase of 0.8% from the 2023 figure of 73,751. The Other Services sector accounted for 61.7% (45,842) of persons employed in 2024 enterprise births, followed by Construction (16.4%) and Wholesale & Retail Trade (9.2%).
| Percentage of persons employed | |
| Other Services | 61.7 |
| Wholesale & Retail Trade | 9.2 |
| Industry | 6.7 |
| Construction | 16.4 |
| Financial & Insurance Activities | 6.1 |
There were 34,797 enterprises that ceased trading during 2023, employing 50,036 people. This represented an increase of 3.2% in enterprise deaths compared with 2022. Enterprise death figures for 2023 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 2023 with 18,218 enterprises ceasing activity, representing 52.4% of total deaths. The Construction sector recorded the second highest number of enterprise deaths with 9,874 or 28.4% of total enterprises ceasing activity.
| Industry | Construction | Wholesale & Retail Trade | Financial & Insurance Activities | Other Services | Total | |
| 2023 | 1671 | 9874 | 3318 | 1716 | 18218 | 34797 |
| 2022 | 1645 | 7760 | 3761 | 1625 | 18914 | 33705 |
| 2021 | 1409 | 5576 | 3271 | 1625 | 16869 | 28750 |
There were 50,036 persons employed in newly inactive enterprises in 2023. The Other Services sector accounted for 56.1% (28,057) of these persons employed, followed by the Construction sector at 23.4% (11,730). The Financial & Insurance Activities sector had the lowest number of persons employed in newly inactive enterprises in 2023 with 2,128 (4.3%).
| Percentage of persons employed | |
| Other Services | 56.1 |
| Wholesale & Retail Trade | 11.8 |
| Industry | 4.4 |
| Construction | 23.4 |
| Financial & Insurance Activities | 4.3 |
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today 06 October 2026 published Business in Ireland 2024 – Insights on the Lifecycle of Businesses.
Commenting on the release, Thomas Flynn, Statistician in the Integration & Structural Outputs Division, said: "This release 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 2024 there was an annual growth of 2.2% in the number of active enterprises, while the number of persons employed rose by 3.5%.
Active Enterprises
The number of active enterprises in Ireland rose by 2.2% between 2023 and 2024 from 401,359 to 410,205.
Most sectors experienced an annual increase in enterprise numbers in 2024. The largest annual growth was recorded in the Human Health & Social Work Activities (+7.4%) and Financial & Insurance Activities (+6.8%). The Mining & Quarrying sector showed the largest annual decline in enterprise numbers (-18.0%).
The number of persons employed in active enterprises rose by 3.5% between 2023 and 2024 from 2,345,457 to 2,428,464.
The Other Services sector, which includes Transportation & Storage and Accommodation & Food Service Activities, accounted for 58.2% of all active enterprises in 2024 and 55.7% of persons employed. The Construction sector accounted for almost one-fifth (19.5%) of enterprises, but just 8.6% of persons employed.
The number of large enterprises (250+ persons employed) represented 0.2% of active enterprises but still accounted for 33.1% of persons employed.
Newly Active Enterprises (Enterprise Births)
There was a decrease of 6.6% in the number of newly active enterprises (enterprise births) between 2023 (47,542) and 2024 (44,418), with micro enterprises accounting for 98.7% (43,829) of births in 2024.
There were 74,324 persons employed in newly birthed enterprises in 2024, an increase of 0.8% from the 2023 figure of 73,751.
The Other Services sector accounted for 61.7% (45,852) of persons employed in enterprise births in 2024, followed by the Construction sector at 16.4% (12,152).
Enterprises Ceasing Activity (Enterprise Deaths)
The number of enterprises ceasing activity (enterprise deaths) in 2023 grew by 3.2% compared with 2022. During the same period, the annual number of persons employed in enterprises ceasing activity was 50,036, a rise of 0.2%.
The Other Services sector showed the highest number of newly inactive enterprises (enterprise deaths) in 2023. In this sector alone, 18,218 enterprises ceased activity in 2023, which accounted for 52.4% of total closures. The highest annual percentage change in 2024 for enterprise deaths (+27.2%) and persons employed in enterprise deaths (+22.7%) occurred in the Construction sector.
Enterprise Survival Rates
The five-year survival rate for enterprises birthed in 2019 (26,910) and still active in 2024 (13,633) was 50.7%. The two-year survival rate fell annually from 2019 (68.7%) to 2021 (63.5%) but increased in 2022 (65.3%). The one-year survival rate, relating to enterprises birthed in 2023 (47,542) and still active in 2024 (37,392) was 78.7%.
County Breakdown
The counties of Dublin (138,989) and Cork (43,139) combined accounted for 44.4% of all active enterprises in Ireland in 2024. Dublin and Cork showed annual increases in active enterprises of 1.6% and 2.3%, respectively. Leitrim (2,753) and Longford (2,856) had the fewest number of enterprises in the country. All counties saw an annual rise in its number of enterprises, with Monaghan experiencing the largest growth at 3.9%, followed by Clare at 3.8%. Wicklow observed the smallest increase of 1.0%.”