Creation rate of new enterprises in central Europe slows significantly
A new statistical report on enterprises in central European countries shows that the rate of creation of new businesses in the region has fallen sharply since 1995. The report, published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Communities, indicates that the average percentage of new enterprises compared with the number of existing businesses has fallen from 19.5 per cent in 1995 to 12.9 per cent in 2000, a fall of more than one third. The average figures mask widely differing results in each country, however, as the rate of creation in Latvia and Estonia is still above 20 per cent, whereas that figure drops below 10 percent in Slovenia and Lithuania. The other countries covered by the report are Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. The report shows that of the 500,000 non-agricultural businesses set up in the group of 10 nations in 2000, 57 per cent were based at the manager's home, and less than one third of them had any salaried employees. Financial, business and personal services was the core activity of 37 per cent of the companies, distributive trade accounted for 31 per cent, and 11 per cent were manufacturing businesses. Of all the enterprises created in central Europe in 1995, those based in Slovenia had the best chance of still being in business in 2000 where the survival rate was 67 per cent. The Czech Republic also scored well in this category with a survival rate of 57 per cent. Companies set up in Lithuania in 1995 had the least chance of surviving till 2000, with a survival rate of just 26 per cent. The full title of the report is 'New enterprises and development of enterprises in central European countries - data 1995-2001' and is available in English only.