The number of companies created in France increased by 3.7% in April, up for the third month in a row, driven by both micro-entrepreneurs and traditional companies, INSEE said on Thursday. In total, 90,063 companies were created in April, against 86,837 in March, where they were already up 1.3%, detailed the National Institute of Statistics.
Registrations of micro-entrepreneurs increased by 4.9% (after 0.2% in March) and the creation of traditional businesses by 1.7% (after 3.2%). With the exception of real estate where creations are stable, all sectors are affected by the increase. The sectors of transport and storage (12.7% after -6.4%) as well as education, health and social work (8% after 3.2%) stand out in particular.
Over 12 months, from May 2022 to April 2023, business creations increased by 1.5% compared to the same period a year earlier. “Over this period, the decline is particularly marked in the transport and warehousing sector (-22.0% year-on-year), a sector in which creations had increased significantly during the health crisis”, explained INSEE.
The published data must nevertheless “be interpreted with great caution”, warned the statistical institute. This instability is explained by the establishment on January 1, 2023 of a one-stop shop for business formalities (creation, cessation of activity, modification of the articles of association), which has experienced many difficulties.
“This major change temporarily weakens the monthly monitoring of business creations,” he explains. The one-stop shop, which replaced six networks of business formalities centres, should be fully operational by the end of June, according to the government.