Insee Première · February 2026 · n° 2082

Business births in 2025 Business births continued to rise

In 2025, business births in France continued to rise, once again reaching a record level, with 1,165,800 new businesses registered. After stabilising between 2021 and 2023, business births picked up again in 2024 and maintained their growth in 2025 (+5%, after +6% in 2024).

Registrations of self-managed micro-entrepreneurs and companies each rose by 6%, while births of conventional sole proprietorships continued to decline (-4%, after -3% in 2024).

Business births continued to increase in most sectors, particularly in trade (+11%), administrative and support services activities (+12%), and transportation and storage (+6%).

Business births in the non-store retail segment evolved: while the number of independent door‑to‑door salespeople declined, e‑commerce (distance selling) activities increased.

In recent years, nearly seven out of ten newly created businesses became economically active within two years, although significant disparities remained between business types. In particular, only one in four independent door‑to‑door salespeople actually launched their activity within two years.