Founding: Self-employment as a way out of the crisis – many new companies are founded

According to a new estimate, more companies were founded in Germany in 2025 than in 15 years. According to the Mannheim economic research institute ZEW and the credit agency Creditreform, around 183,000 new companies were launched: 7.7 percent more than in the previous year - the highest level since 2010.

The upswing is particularly strong among growth-oriented, innovative start-ups. Around 3,100 such companies were founded in 2025, almost a fifth (19 percent) more than in 2024. While the number of small companies founded without a commercial register entry increased, the number of those founded with a commercial register entry fell by 3.3 percent.

“The significant increase in the number of start-ups is a positive signal,” said ZEW researcher Sandra Gottschalk. "However, a closer look shows that start-ups in the small business sector are primarily responsible for the growth. However, we continue to see weaker development for larger, more capital-intensive start-ups.

The figures are based on the Mannheim company panel from Creditreform and ZEW, which contains information on a good ten million companies in Germany and depicts around three million companies. Since new start-ups are sometimes recorded with a delay, the numbers are extrapolated.

The ZEW sees an upswing in growth-oriented start-ups: the number will have risen noticeably to 3,100 in 2025. More than 45 percent of these, around 1,400 companies, belong to technology-oriented services. The number of start-ups there rose by 27 percent compared to the previous year. In the survey, a company is considered a growth-oriented start-up if it is founded as a corporation, several founders are involved and the company conducts research and development.

According to ZEW and Creditreform, there are also major differences between the sectors. Around 20,000 companies were founded in the hospitality industry, a good 20 percent more than in the previous year, although there were also more closures. Things look worse in the manufacturing industry: in the research-intensive manufacturing industry, the number of start-ups fell by 2.6 percent and in vehicle construction by 8.7 percent. In technology-oriented services, however, the number of start-ups with an entry in the commercial register increased by 8.5 percent.