Business Demography: Enterprise Births and Deaths, 2008

Statistics on enterprise births, deaths and survival rates include data for Wales and local authorities within Wales for 2008. The latest release updates the statistics previously released on 28 November 2008.

The key points from the latest release are:

• There were 9,290 enterprise births in Wales during 2008, which is a rate(1) of 10.1 per cent. This is the second lowest rate out of the UK regions (ahead of Northern Ireland, 9.5 per cent). The UK birth rate was 11.6 per cent.
• There were 8,735 enterprise deaths in Wales during 2008, which is a rate(1) of 9.5 per cent, slightly above the UK rate of 9.4 per cent. This is the fifth highest of the UK regions (highest is London at 10.3 per cent).
• The total number of enterprises active in Wales during 2008 was 91,740. This includes only those enterprises which are headquartered in Wales.
• The 5 year survival rate for enterprises born in 2003 and still active in 2008 for Wales was 47 per cent, the same as the UK survival rate. The highest 5 year survival rate was in Northern Ireland (56 per cent), whilst the lowest was in London (39 per cent).
• The 1 year survival rate for enterprises born in 2007 and still active in 2008 for Wales was 95 per cent, the same as the UK survival rate. All UK regions had 1 year survival rates of 95 or 96 per cent.

The ONS business demography release, has replaced the BERR VAT registrations and de-registrations release, which is no longer being produced. The differences between the two series are described in an article on the ONS website.

(1) Rates calculated as percentage of stock.

Further information can be found on the StatsWales website.

Contact

Tel: 029 2082 5017
E-mail: economic.stats@wales.gsi.gov.uk

Next update

November 2010 (provisional - to be confirmed on Due Out Soon page)