Lithuania has the highest enterprise birth rate in Europe

Lithuania and Latvia perform the best in Europe when it comes to the enterprise birth rate.

The creation of new businesses is the core indicator of a country’s economic growth and entrepreneurial potential. Country’s entrepreneurial spirit can be revealed by the enterprise birth rate that measures new enterprises as a proportion of all active enterprises.

According to Eurostat, Lithuania records the highest enterprise birth rate in Europe: 18.82%. Latvia takes the second place with the rate of 16%, followed by Portugal (15.6%), UK (15%), and Iceland (14.4%).

On average, the enterprise birth rate in EU is around 10%, according to 2016 data. In contrast, despite being dynamic economies, Germany and Belgium perform poorly with the enterprise birth rate of 6.7% and 6.2%, respectively.

The Europe’s lowest rate is recorded in Greece where new enterprises account only for 4.5% of all active companies.

According to Eurostat, enterprise births are thought to increase the competitiveness of a country’s business, by obliging companies to become more efficient in view of newly emerging competition. They stimulate innovation and facilitate adoption of new technologies, while helping to increase overall productivity within an economy.