Cyprus recorded an enterprise birth rate of 9.7 per cent and a death rate of 7.2 per cent in 2023, according to Eurostat data released this week, showing that more companies were created than closed during the year. 

Across the European Union, 3.5 million new businesses were registered, while 2.8 million ceased operations. The bloc’s average birth rate stood at 10.5 per cent, compared with a death rate of 8.5 per cent, based on preliminary figures. 

Cyprus ranked among the countries with the lowest closure rates, close to Greece (3.4 per cent) and the Netherlands (5 per cent).  

In contrast, Estonia (27.5 per cent), Ireland (16.6 per cent) and Bulgaria (16.5 per cent) recorded the highest death rates. 

Business formation on the island was slightly below the EU average but still higher than Italy (7.8 per cent) and Austria (6.2 per cent), the lowest in the bloc.  

By comparison, Lithuania (19.6 per cent), Malta (17.1 per cent) and Portugal (16.8 per cent) posted the highest rates of new business creation, reflecting more dynamic entrepreneurial activity. 

Overall, more firms were established than dissolved in most EU countries, except in Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Poland and Slovakia, where enterprise deaths exceeded births. 

Eurostat also reported that the share of high-growth enterprises, defined as firms with at least ten employees that expand their workforce by more than ten per cent a year over three years, rose to 10.5 per cent across the EU between 2020 and 2023, compared with 9.2 per cent in the previous period.  

That represents about 180,000 high-growth firms across the bloc. 

In Cyprus, high-growth enterprises accounted for 2.8 per cent of all businesses with at least ten employees, one of the lowest rates in the European Union.  

Even so, the island’s net enterprise growth was stronger than in Greece but slightly below Malta. 

By contrast, Ireland leads the bloc with 21.1 per cent of its firms classified as high-growth, followed by France (14.8 per cent), Finland (13.2 per cent) and Germany (11.6 per cent).  

Meanwhile, Portugal (7.9 per cent) and Lithuania (9.3 per cent) also ranked well above the EU average.