In the first quarter of 2007 just about 42.400 companies were set up of which the legal form and number of employees indicate major economic importance. This figure corresponds to a 5.9% decrease as compared to the first quarter of 2006. On the other hand, the number of second employment businesses rose by 62.000 or 7.5% as compared to the same month in 2006.
The number of newly set up businesses in the group of very small enterprises amounted to 5000 which is a 8.9% decline as compared to the previous year. The Federal Statistical Office today reported that this decrease was a consequence of changes in start-up sponsoring which took effect in August 2006.
The total number of new business registrations which comprise not only the setting up, but also the relocation, transformation and takeover of a company was 231.400 which is 2.8% less than in the first quarter of 2006. Major changes were registered in particular with regard to relocations in the first quarter of 2007 the number of which increased by 6.5%.
Besides the decrease in numbers of newly founded major companies the number of shut-downs of such companies also increased to 36.000 or 4.3%. In total there were 200.400 (+0.6%) new trades being registered in the first quarter of 2007. 