Issue 635 (Week ending 26/06/2024)

There are a number of ways to look at the peformance of the Irish economy in Q1, and as Q2 comes to a close, it seems a good opportunity to reflect and get ready to draw comparisons where necessary, and as you may see below, potentially expect the unexpected.

Company Closures

For the first quarter of 2024, there were 3,341 company closures. This was a significant increase when compared to Q1 of 2023, which was 2,147. Overall, the resulting percentage increase from 2023 to 2024 was 55.61%.

Company Start-Ups

To bring a positive upswing into the picture, the first Quarter of 2024 has seen 6,100 company set-ups, and 6,496 business set-ups, for a total of 12,596 set-ups.

When compared to 2023, which saw Q1 close on a total of 11,416 company start-ups, we see a 10.34% increase on this metric.

This significant growth in start-ups should bring reason to view the surge with optimism, despite the likely natural rise in closures, as will happen with more businesses opening year-on-year.

Company Set-Up Locations

The top locations for companies to be set up in Q1 are listed below:

1. Dublin

2. Cork

3. Dublin 2

4. Galway

5. Kildare

In the 2023 Annual Review of Business in Ireland, CRIFVision-net noted that the most vulnerable time for start-ups was year 3 and 4 of their lifecycle. This tracks with the sharp rise in start-ups witnessed in 2021 (25,700 approx.) we are now seeing the first drop off of businesses succumbing to this fact.

Stay tuned for our reports on 2024 Q2 performance.