High turnover in the retail and hospitality sectors
In the first half of this year, start-up dynamics in Germany gained momentum: around 143,000 business start-ups were recorded, compared with 127,000 business closures. The researchers at IfM Bonn regularly compile statistics on business start-ups and business closures in Germany based on business notification and deregistration data from the Federal Statistical Office. They exclude notifications that are not relevant to business start-ups or closures, such as changes in legal form and registrations of secondary self-employment, from the reported data. For this reason, the data published by IfM Bonn differ from those of the Federal Statistical Office.
Significant differences between the federal states
The positive trend in the first six months was driven in particular by business notifications involving an entry in the Commercial Register or the Register of Crafts and Trades, or involving at least one dependent employee. Around 53,600 of these so-called ‘main branch businesses’ were set up across Germany, whilst around 35,700 were closed down.
Most new businesses with a main place of business were established in North Rhine-Westphalia (+230 compared with the first half of 2025), Bavaria (+1,120) and Baden-Württemberg (+430). The fewest of these economically significant businesses were established in the federal states of Bremen, Saarland, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia.
Most closures occurred in the retail, construction and hospitality sectors
In most sectors of the economy, the number of business start-ups – comprising the total number of start-ups of businesses and small businesses, as well as takeovers through succession, purchase and lease – is higher than the number of business closures. Only in the sectors of agriculture, forestry and fisheries; manufacturing and mining; construction; and trade is the opposite observed. Nevertheless, the number of business start-ups remains high in retail (25,600) and construction (16,100), as well as in hospitality (18,900) and other economic services (17,000).
Statistics
