The establishment of larger companies is increasing. In the running year, around 103,700 companies in Germany were founded whose legal form and number of employees indicate greater economic importance, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reported on Friday. This represents a 4.5 percent increase in the number of larger companies founded compared to the same period last year.
In total, around 525,100 new establishments were recorded in the first three quarters of 2026, which corresponds to a 7.7 percent increase compared to the previous year. The number of complete tasks of companies with greater economic importance decreased by 2.4 percent to 72,500, while the number of complete commercial tasks was 0.8 percent higher at 363,500 than in the same period last year. The total number of commercial deregistration decreased by 0.8 percent to around 443,000.
Company transfers, conversions, or changes to another registration area were also included in commercial registrations and deregistration. A company is considered to be of greater economic importance if it is founded or closed by a legal person or a society without legal personality. Destatis also includes companies founded or closed by natural persons, provided the person is registered in the commercial register, employs workers, or possesses a craft card upon founding.
