The number of new business registrations rose by 4.0% in the European Union in the third quarter of 2025, compared with the previous quarter, new data from Eurostat has found. This is the highest increase since the first quarter of 2019.
At the same time, however, the number of bankruptcy declarations was also up on a quarter-on-quarter basis, by 4.4%, which is again the highest level since Q1 2019, the data showed.
Business registrations rose across all sectors compared to the previous quarter, with the biggest increases seen in the information and communication sector (+6.0%), followed by construction (+5.9%) and transport (+5.5%). This is a continuation of the upward trend seen in recent quarters.
Bankruptcy trends were more mixed, however, with the number of bankruptcies rising in five sectors – accommodation and food services; transport; finance; education and social services; and trade – while three sectors showed a decrease.
The biggest increase in bankruptcies was seen in accommodation and food services (+20.7%), transport (+18.7%) and financial services (+14.1%), while reductions were reported in information and communication (-4.8%), construction (-3.1%) and industry (-0.1%).
Looking at the EU member states for which data is available, the biggest increases in bankruptcy declarations in Q3, compared to the previous quarter were recorded in Greece (+47.8%), Poland (+17.3%) and Czechia (+17.2%).
The largest quarter-on-quarter decreases, meanwhile, were seen in Cyprus (-50.0%), Romania (-45.9%) and Estonia (-21.0%).
Elsewhere, the biggest increases in business registrations were observed in Ireland (+82.0%), Luxembourg (+44.4%) and Romania (+32.3%) in the quarter, while the largest decreases were seen in Cyprus (-6.7%), Austria (-6.6%) and Finland (-3.6%).
As Eurostat noted, in a number of European countries, the number of business registrations and bankruptcies can be very low, which can give rise to double-digit quarter-on-quarter increases and decreases. Read more here.
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