Business demography: 2019

The report does not cover the period of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Main points

• The construction industry continued to have the most active enterprises (15,245) and businesses born (1,760) within Wales, in 2019.
• Business Administration and Support Services had the largest growth in active enterprises since 2018 (7.5%) from 9,365 to 10,070.
• The total number of enterprises active in Wales during 2019 was 103,770. This was an increase of 1,425 enterprises (1.4%) on 2018.
• There were 12,265 enterprise births in Wales during 2019, which is a rate(a) of 11.8%. This was the fourth lowest rate out of the twelve UK countries and regions. The UK birth rate was 13.0%.
• There were 10,825 enterprise deaths in Wales during 2019, which is a rate(a) of 10.4%. This was the fourth lowest rate amongst the twelve UK countries and regions. The UK death rate was 11.2%.
• The 5 year survival rate for enterprises born in 2014 and still active in 2019 for Wales was 42.0%, slightly below the UK survival rate of 42.5%. The highest 5 year survival rate was in the South West (45.9%), whilst the lowest was in London (39.2%).
• The 1 year survival rate for enterprises born in 2018 and still active in 2019 for Wales was 89.3%, slightly above the UK survival rate of 89.1%. The highest survival rate was in the North East (91.2%), and the lowest was in London (87.0%).

(a) Rates calculated as percentage of stock.