The number of companies created in France increased by 2% in February after having fallen by 4.4% in January, according to data published Friday by INSEE which must nevertheless be “interpreted with
great caution
”.
Some 86,665 companies would thus have been born in February, against 84,937 in January.
But the January figure has been revised down sharply, INSEE having identified in its first estimate 86,798 companies created over the month.
This instability of the data 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 encountered many difficulties.
“
This significant change temporarily weakens the monthly monitoring of business creations
,” explains the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies in the press release published on Friday.
Read also Decline in business creations in January
An increase driven by micro-enterprises
The government said on Wednesday that the one-stop shop, which replaced six networks of business formalities centres, should be fully operational by the end of June.
The 2% rise in business start-ups in February was driven by registrations of micro-enterprises, which rose 3.4% after falling 1.6% in January.
The number of classic businesses launched in February fell (-0.2%), but the trend was much less marked than a month earlier (-8.8%).
“
Business creations rebounded in most sectors over one month, particularly in industry (+18.4% after -19.3%), business support (+2.5% after -4.2 %) and household service activities (+3.6% after -0.1%)
”, details INSEE.
On the other hand, they fell again in education, health and social work (-4.3% after -0.8%), in transport and warehousing (-2.5% after -10, 6%), as well as in accommodation and catering (-2.6% after -6.8%).