Business Barometer

Ireland records highest start-up figures in 13 years: 71 new companies formed every day in Quarter One. Despite Brexit uncertainty, 12 counties saw double digit start-up growth, while insolvency figures remained in line with last year's lows.

Our latest figures show that almost 71 new companies were formed every day in the first quarter of 2019, while the number of insolvencies remained consistent for the same period.

Company start-ups: Q1-2019 vs Q1-2018

In total, 6,413 new companies were formed in Ireland in the first quarter of 2019, the best Q1 figures in the past 13 years - up almost 14% on Q1-2018.

Professional services was the biggest contributor to new start-ups in Quarter One. There were 1,448 new start-ups in the sector, presenting a 22% increase on this time last year. Social and personal services grew by 50% (945 new companies). The third largest sector was financial services, however it decreased by one percent to 708 new start-up companies (compared to 715 in Q1-2018).

In total, 12 counties recorded double-digit growth in start-ups in Quarter One. Dublin recorded the highest number of start-ups. 3,089 start-ups were established in the capital in the first quarter of the new year, amounting to almost 50% of the total number of start-ups established.

Cork followed with 690 new companies in the first quarter - up 13.3% on Q1 2018, with Galway coming in third with 236 new start-ups established in Q1-2019 - down by just 1.2% on Q1-2018. Limerick saw 210 new start-ups created, representing a 7.7% increase on the same period last year.

Insolvencies: Q1-2019 vs Q1-2018

2018 saw an almost 26% year-on-year drop in insolvencies versus 2017. In Quarter One 2019, insolvencies remained relatively low. There were 192 company insolvencies in Quarter One, equating to an average of two per day, compared to a total 186 in the same period for 2018.

Wholesale and retail was the most insolvent sector in Q1-2019 with 31 recorded insolvencies, up 34.8% on the Q1 figures for 2018. It was followed by professional services also with 31 recorded insolvencies in Q1-2019, up 10.7% on Q1-2018 and the construction sector with 25 recorded insolvencies, down by 13.8% on Q1-2018.

Dublin was the most insolvent county for the period (84, up 9%), followed by Galway (14, up 133%) and Cork (13, down 43.5%). Whereas, counties Clare, Carlow Mayo, Westmeath, Waterford, Kilkenny, Tipperary and Laois all recorded fewer than five insolvencies in the Q1-2019 and the number of insolvencies in counties Sligo and Offaly went down by 100% in Q1-2019, as compared to the same period in 2018.

An International Perspective

As part of The CRIF Group, CRIF Vision-Net was able to review Q1-2019 statistics from Germany. Like Ireland, professional services represented the highest rate of start-ups in Germany and accounted for more than one in five new start-ups (23.6% - compared to 22.6% in Ireland). This was followed up wholesale and retail, which accounted for 21% of new German start-ups, compared to just 9.7% in Ireland.

Again, insolvency trends between the two countries shared numerous parallels. Construction, professional services and wholesale & retail accounted for the highest proportion of insolvencies in both Germany and Ireland. Construction represented 19.7% of all insolvencies in Germany, meanwhile the construction sector in Ireland accounted for 13% of all insolvencies.

To find out more about the latest company, credit and director updates, simply contact us today on Tel: +353 1 903 2660 or email helpdesk.vision-net@crif.com.