Business demography: 2020

On 25 January 2022, the StatsWales tables for business births, deaths and active enterprises by industry was updated to include the latest data (2020).

The most recent data in this report is for 2020. This period includes the three months prior to, and the first nine months of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Main points

• The total number of enterprises active in Wales during 2020 was 104,445. This was an increase of 675 enterprises (0.7%) on 2019.
• There were 11,905 enterprise births in Wales during 2020, which is a rate ^{[footnote 1]} of 11.4%. The UK business birth rate was 11.9%.
• The business birth rate for Wales is the lowest it has been since 2012. It is likely that the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed towards this.
• There were 10,200 enterprise deaths in Wales during 2020, which is a rate ^{[footnote 1]} of 9.8%. The UK death rate was 10.5%.
• The 5 year survival rate for enterprises born in 2015 and still active in 2020 for Wales was 40.4%, slightly above the UK survival rate of 39.6%. The highest 5 year survival rate was in the South West (44.3%), whilst the lowest was in London (36.7%).
• The 1 year survival rate for enterprises born in 2019 and still active in 2020 for Wales was 90.7%, above the UK survival rate of 88.3%. The highest survival rate was in the West Midlands (91.3%), and the lowest was in Northern Ireland (80.5%).

[1] Rates calculated as percentage of stock.

Additional industry breakdowns published in January 2022

• The construction industry continued to have the most active enterprises (15,230) within Wales, in 2020.
• Transport & storage had the most Welsh businesses born in 2020 (1,825).