However, the 0.9 % bounceback represents only a partial recovery from the -7.2 % figure of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, registrations of new businesses in the EU as a whole increased by 1.6% compared with the previous quarter. On the other hand, declared bankruptcies decreased by 0.7%.
Comparing the fourth quarter of 2021 with the third quarter of 2021, among Member States for which data are available, the largest increases in the registrations of new businesses were observed in Poland (+9.4 %), the Estonia (+6.6 %) and Italy (+6.4 %). The largest decreases were observed in Ireland (-30.8 %), Slovakia (-5.5 %) and Bulgaria (-3.8 %)
Additionally, the number of businesses declaring bankruptcy in the final quarter of 2021 increased considerably. There was a 15.9 % growth in bankruptcies on the third quarter.
Comparing the fourth quarter of 2021 with the third quarter of 2021, among Member States for which data are available, the largest decreases in the number of declarations of bankruptcies were found in Romania (-26.2 %), Estonia (-12.7 %) and Spain (-10.4 %). The highest increases in bankruptcy declarations were observed in Denmark (+37.8 %), Hungary (+24.7 %) and the Netherlands (+22.5 %).
