Net growth

Number of companies starting up, minus number closing down, as a percentage of the number of companies on 1 January of the year concerned.

Start-ups:
The start of a new company. The company must comply with economic criteria for a company, i.e. information must be available about employment or turnover of the company. The company must also be a new one, not the continuation of a one or more existing companies.

Starting companies do not include:
- companies created as a result of merger of, or separation from existing companies;
- companies taken over by, or becoming an independent part of an existing company;
- companies whose name has changed;
- companies whose legal form has changed;
- companies whose ownership has changed;
- companies whose activities have gradually changed;
- companies that have relocated but operate on the same market;
- companies that have been reactivated.

Starting companies do include:
- companies with a significant change in their production process (activity);
- companies that have relocated and built up a new market.

Closure:
A company closes down when its activities are terminated and not continued by another company. The identity of the company is an important consideration in this respect. For example, if a shop relocates and has to build up a new customer group, this is counted as the closure of one company and the start-up of a new one. If the activities of the company are continued, the company is not counted as a closure. The closed down company (and employment) are no longer part of the population. The best known example is bankruptcy. Around 10 percent of business closures are the result of bankruptcy.

Closures do not include:
- closures as a result of merger, takeover or separation;
- companies whose name has changed;
- companies whose legal form has changed;
- companies whose ownership has changed;
- companies whose activities have gradually changed;
- companies that have been reactivated.