Increasing company founding activity in the shadow of rising new procedures

According to the latest OPTEN data, in February 2024 the number of operating social enterprises fell below 515,000. In the last six months, the number of companies continued to decrease, in February it was realized in a value of less than 650 compared to the previous month. At the same time, it is a gratifying fact that, compared to the same period of the previous year, nearly 350 more new businesses were founded, and a significant increase in company foundings can also be observed at the beginning of this year. “The increase in the number of company foundings is an encouraging sign, but at the same time, the high rate of new company court proceedings casts a shadow on it, especially the outstanding number of liquidation proceedings. Last year, more than 20,000 liquidation proceedings were initiated, which clearly affects the increase in the number of company liquidations, and in my opinion, it may even reach 40,000 by the end of the year.” – said Csaba Alföldi, OPTEN’s company information expert.

In the past seven years – with the exception of 2021 – the number of companies tended to decrease in the months of January and February. The special feature of this year lies in the fact that nearly 2,000 fewer companies closed compared to the same period of the previous year, and the decline was even milder than the seasonal decline of the “happy times of peace” before the epidemic.