In the first 11 months of 2022, Insee recorded 980,000 new registrations. The record set in 2021, when 995,868 businesses were created, should be beaten by the end of the year, and the symbolic milestone of one million new registrations passed.
Microenterprise creation still going strong
On a year-on-year basis, Insee recorded a 1.7% rise in the number of new registrations, with strong momentum among microenterprises (+2.4%) and companies (+5%). Microenterprises accounted for 62% of business start-ups in the first 11 months of the year, to the apparent detriment of traditional sole proprietorships, which fell by 8.8%.
After a slight dip at the start of 2022, the number of business start-ups rose again between September and November, by 9.9% year-on-year, and by 13% for micro-businesses alone.
While the home delivery sector saw an explosion in the number of business start-ups during the health crisis, things have changed, with the transport and warehousing sector recording a 35% year-on-year drop in new registrations. Other sectors, such as "household services" (+19%) and "business and management consultancy" (+18%), seem to be attracting more new entrepreneurs.
Uncertain economic benefits
According to François Hurel, President of the Union des autoentrepreneurs, this new record number of business start-ups is indicative of changing expectations, particularly among young people, who are turning away from salaried employment and seeking greater autonomy and fulfillment in their work.
From an economic point of view, the contribution of these new companies in terms of growth is uncertain, and many of them only provide their managers with additional salaries. What's more, a not inconsiderable proportion of these young structures are destined to disappear rapidly: over the period from July to October 2022, almost 25% of companies delisted had been founded during the health crisis, and had not yet blown out their third candle.
While the government has taken steps to reduce the social security contributions of self-employed workers by 550 euros a year, in order to help them maintain their purchasing power in the current inflationary climate, microentrepreneurs are worse off: their social security contributions will only be reduced by between 0.5% and 0.9%, i.e. by around 185 euros a year.
In Europe, France is the only country to record such a large number of new registrations.