Company Trend 2025 – domestic businesses under strong pressure, in a negative trend

Why 2025 has become a year of waiting for businesses

The economic environment did not provide a strong enough impetus for entrepreneurial risk-taking. Growth prospects remained subdued throughout the year – GDP growth is expected to be below 1 percent – ​​while the volume of investments decreased by more than 5 percent in the first three quarters of the year. In addition to persistently high operating costs, in this environment, the focus of entrepreneurial decisions shifted from expansion to the sustainability of operations.

In parallel, structural restructuring also took place. The role of services continued to strengthen, while sectors that are traditionally more capital- and cost-intensive had more difficulty adapting. More flexible forms of operation became more valuable, and entrepreneurial decisions were less about growth and more about adaptation. The imprint of this later appears in the restraint of foundings, the structure of terminations and the development of court proceedings – in other words, in the company trend itself.

It is not exits, but the lack of entries that redraw the company image

The narrowing of the entrepreneurial decision-making space was also clearly visible in the numbers in 2025. According to OPTEN data, the number of partnerships decreased by 11 thousand during the year, which fell below half a million by the end of the year (494.5 thousand). This is the third consecutive year that the number of companies has shrunk.

The company trend does not outline a sudden break, but a prolonged period of adaptation. The base level of entrepreneurial activity has been permanently lower, and the process was determined not by the acceleration of exits, but by the lack of new entrants.

Trade and construction: where the pressure converged

In 2025, the decline in the number of companies affected trade and construction the most. According to OPTEN data, there were about 3.4 thousand fewer enterprises in trade and nearly 2 thousand in construction during the year. Both sectors react sensitively to the development of consumption and investments, which remained uncertain throughout 2025.

In the construction industry, the delay in investments and the delay of projects were directly reflected in the decline in the number of companies, while the number of new entrants remained low. In contrast, service-related, more flexible sectors proved to be more resilient – ​​not by chance, since while construction accounts for more than 4 percent of GDP, services account for nearly 30 percent.