Insee Première · September 2025 · n° 2070

Businesses created in 2018: 69% still active five years after launch

Five years after their birth, 69% of businesses created during the first half of 2018, excluding micro‑entrepreneurs (a specific status for sole proprietors), were still active. However, this level of sustainability was not uniform. Companies were more often active after five years than sole proprietorships (71% compared with 63%). Businesses in the financial and insurance activities sector had the highest survival rate (77%) and those in trade the lowest (64%).

Among businesses still in operation after three years, 90% were still active two years later. Their chances of being sustainable in five years' time depended in particular on the impact of the Covid‑19 pandemic on their level of activity.

For 20% of the founders of active entities in 2023, the main objective between 2021 and 2023 was to safeguard their business. This case was more common among companies (22%) than among sole proprietorships (12%).

Five years after launch, 14% of businesses had a turnover below 15,000 euros in their last financial year, and 48% of companies employed at least one employee in addition to the business manager.