Insee Première · February 2024 · n° 1984

Business births in 2023 Slight decrease in business births in 2023

In 2023, the number of business births in France remained at high levels, with 1,051,500 new businesses created. After a sharp increase between 2016 and 2021, the amont of business births tended to stabilise, falling by 1% in 2023 after a 1% rise in the previous year.

The numbers of company births fell by 8% and conventional sole proprietorships’ births by 6%, while the number of micro-entrepreneurs’ registrations continued to rise (+3%).

Business set-ups fell back in most sectors, particularly in professional, scientific and technical activities (-8%), construction (-8%) and real estate activities (-12%). Conversely, they continued to rise in administrative and support services activities (+17%).

At the time of their establishment, only 2% of businesses had employees. This proportion fell to 5% in 2023 for companies, compared with 12% ten years ago.