Data released Friday by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) indicates a dynamic shift within the German business landscape during the first half of 2025. The period saw approximately 67,600 new businesses established demonstrating characteristics suggesting significant economic potential – a 9.4 percent increase compared to the same period in 2024.
However, this growth in new ventures was accompanied by a rise in business closures. Complete business terminations involving economically significant entities increased by 6.6 percent, reaching around 51,800.
Overall, new business registrations, including startups, business takeovers and structural changes, totaled approximately 325,300, representing a 4.6 percent increase year-over-year. Total registrations, encompassing all types of business activity changes, climbed by 3.4 percent to around 386,600.
Looking at business terminations, complete business closures totaled approximately 246,900, a 1.6 percent increase from the first half of 2024. Total business deregistrations rose by 0.8 percent to around 304,700, a figure that also includes business transfers, conversions and relocations. Destatis analysts emphasize that this broader number encompasses more than just complete business failures.
