Business demography

For the creation of the business demography data base, the most recent currently available administrative data are used. Furthermore, estimation procedures are used to complete the calculations. For consistency reasons, the calculations are made for the entire time series and not just for the current reporting year. That means that slightly different data for the years which have been compiled earlier are produced. As the quality of the administrative data forming the basis for the calculation of business demography statistics has increased, Statistics Austria publishes new results for the entire time series (since 2004).

Overview of the results for 2009

In 2009, 28 015 new enterprises with 67 055 employed persons (of which 41 588 were employees) were born. Measured by the number of active enterprises, this equals to a birth rate of 6.9%. There was thus an increase compared with the 2008 reporting year, when the birth rate amounted to 6.6%.

In general, the 2009 birth rate was – as expected – highest (7.5%) in the services sector (sections G-S, NACE Rev.2, excluding 64.2 "Management activities of holding companies"). The birth rate was below average (5.8%) in industry and construction (sections B-F). At NACE Rev.2 section level, high birth rates were recorded in the economic branches of "Other service activities" (10.6%), “Financial and insurance activities” (8.1%) as well as in “Transportation and storage” and “Real estate activities” (8.0% each). The lowest birth rates were recorded in “Manufacturing” (4.1%) and in "Mining and quarrying" (4.9%).

With respect to the survival of newly born enterprises, the survival rates of a cohort of newly born enterprises are of course declining from one year to another: One year after its birth, at least one enterprise out of ten newly born in 2004 was no longer active on the market; around 90% of those enterprises survived into 2005. The two-year survival rate (from 2004 to 2006) was still around 80%, after three years 72.5% were still active and after four years around two thirds (66.1%) survived. The five-year-survival rate (from 2004 to 2009) amounted to 60.6%. The highest five-year-survival rates were registered in the economic branches of "Human Health and Social work activities" (75.1%), "Real estate activities" (72.1%) and "Other service activities" (69.1%).

A total of 24 436 enterprises with 46 163 employed persons died in 2009, equaling to a death rate of 6.1%. In comparison to the reporting year 2008 the death rate declined a bit (6.5%). The death rate was highest (6.7%) in the services sector (sections G-S, excluding 64.2), while it was lowest (4.3%) in industry and construction. Above-average death rates were recorded in "Arts, Entertainment and recreation" (10.8%), “Education” (8.5%) and "Information and communication" (7.3%). The number of enterprise deaths as a percentage of all active enterprises was lowest in “Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities” (4.0%), “Manufacturing” (4.1%) and "Human Health and Social work activities" (4.4%).

On average, 2.4 jobs (employed persons per enterprise) were created by newly born enterprises in 2009, while 1.9 jobs were lost per enterprise death. The highest total of employed persons in new enterprises was found in the "Accommodation and food service activities" (13 392); high numbers were also recorded in "Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles" (11 032) and in "Professional, scientific and technical activities" (8 774).

Trends from 2004 to 2009

Observing the trends of the reporting period (2004 to 2009) it is shown that the number of newly born enterprises declined by 2.0%. After some fluctuations (highest total: 2005; 29 608 births), the number of births in the year 2009 approximately reached the level of 2004. In this five-year observation period the number of births was growing in the following economic branches: “Construction” (+58.3%), “Real estate activities” (+35.9%), "Human Health and Social work activities" (+32.3%) as well as in “Other service activities” (+16.7%). In the economic sector “Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply” the number of births declined most (-26.7%).

Although in each year, the number of deaths of enterprises was lower than the number of births, the number of enterprise deaths increased by approximately 26% over the five-year observation period (2004 to 2009), reaching a peak in 2008 (year of the economic crisis). Over this time period, the number of enterprise deaths was most on the increase in the economic sectors “Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply” (+93.3%), “Human Health and Social work activities” (+87.9%) and “Financial and insurance activities” (+84.7%).

Further information on the methodology of the data collection.

Information on Employer Enterprise Statistics.