Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has responsibility for collating information on the number of enterprises which open each year and which close each year as part of its work in developing and maintaining the Central Business Register. The register is developed using data provided by the Companies Registration Office (CRO) and the Revenue Commissioners.

The most recent final data available from the Central Business Register, published as part of the CSO’s annual business demography release (Business Demography 2021 - CSO - Central Statistics Office), is for 2021 for enterprise opening and for 2019 for enterprise cessations (enterprise deaths). The difference between reporting on enterprise openings and cessations is due to the methodological requirement whereby an enterprise is only recorded as having ceased trading where no tax returns have been filed for two successive years. The relevant data are presented in the tables below:

Table 1: Number of Enterprises which opened each year, 2018 to 2021

Year	Number
2018	25,794
2019	26,910
2020	36,577
2021	37,615

Table 2: Number of Enterprises which closed each year, 2018 and 2019

Year	Number
2018	28,971
2019	30,622

In line with the requirements set out in Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 (‘EBS Regulation’) and Regulation (EU) 2020/1197 (‘EBS General Implementing Act’) which govern the collection of business statistics, these data covers all NACE sectors, excluding NACE Sectors O - Public Administration; and S94 - Activities of Membership organisations.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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The exact information requested by the Deputy is not available.

The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a household survey which provides quarterly statistics on employment and unemployment and is the official source of labour market estimates in the State. The classification of employment status in LFS results is determined according to ILO (International Labour Organisation) concepts and definitions.

Tables 1-3 below contain figures for numbers of persons self-employed in the State as well as self-employment rates broken down by sex, young persons and citizenship* for Q2 2018-Q2 2023. The self-employment rate has been calculated as the number of self-employed persons as a proportion of all those in employment.

*The LFS does not identify whether a respondent is a migrant. However, the LFS does publish citizenship estimates; these figures are included in Table 3.

The self-employment rate for all persons in Q2 2023 was 12.7% - for males it was 17.9%, for females 6.9%, for young persons 1.2% and for non-Irish citizens 8.6%.

The methodology for estimating persons with a disability has been reviewed with the data currently being processed. Disability data will be available in early March.

Numbers of self employed persons and rate of self-employment by sex, Q2 2018 - Q2 2023

		Q2 2018	Q2 2019	Q2 2020	Q2 2021	Q2 2022	Q2 2023
	Self-employed, 000s	250.1	242.2	229.0	229.3	259.7	248.6
	In employment, 000s	1214.3	1241.4	1175.2	1263.2	1360.2	1386.1
Male	Self-employed rate, %	20.6%	19.5%	19.5%	18.2%	19.1%	17.9%
	Self-employed, 000s	79.9	75.5	79.2	77.2	81.3	86.9
	In employment, 000s	1035.4	1054.8	962.9	1085.9	1194.4	1256.9
Female	Self-employed rate, %	7.7%	7.2%	8.2%	7.1%	6.8%	6.9%
	Self-employed, 000s	330.0	317.7	308.2	306.6	341.0	335.4
	In employment, 000s	2249.7	2296.2	2138.1	2349.1	2554.6	2643.0
Total persons	Self-employed rate, %	14.7%	13.8%	14.4%	13.1%	13.3%	12.7%

Source: Labour Force Survey (LFS), Central Statistics Office, Ireland.
Data may be subject to future revision.
Data may be subject to sampling or other survey errors, which are greater in respect of smaller values or estimates of change.
Reference period: q1=Jan-Mar,q2 Apr-Jun,q3=Jul-Sep,q4 Oct-Dec.
Estimates for number of persons, where there are less than 30 persons in a cell, are too small to be considered reliable. These estimates are presented with an asterisk (*) in the relevant tables. Where there are 30-49 persons in a cell, estimates are considered to have a wider margin of error and should be treated with caution. These cells are presented with parentheses []. In the case of rates, these limits apply to the denominator used in generating the rate. In the case of annual changes, both the current year and the preceding year are taken into account when deciding whether the estimate should be suppressed or flagged as having a wider margin of error.

Numbers of self employed persons aged 15-24 and rate of self-employment, Q2 2018 - Q2 2023

		Q2 2018	Q2 2019	Q2 2020	Q2 2021	Q2 2022	Q2 2023
	Self-employed, 000s	*	*	*	*	*	*
	In employment, 000s	242.4	248.2	191.1	249.7	318.0	321.1
Persons aged 15-24	Self-employed rate, %	1.4%	1.3%	2.6%	1.5%	1.3%	1.2%
	Self-employed, 000s	330.0	317.7	308.2	306.6	341.0	335.4
	In employment, 000s	2249.7	2296.2	2138.1	2349.1	2554.6	2643.0
Total persons	Self-employed rate, %	14.7%	13.8%	14.4%	13.1%	13.3%	12.7%

Numbers of self employed persons aged 15-24 and rate of self-employment, Q2 2018 - Q2 2023

		Q2 2018	Q2 2019	Q2 2020	Q2 2021	Q2 2022	Q2 2023
	Self-employed, 000s	*	*	*	*	*	*
	In employment, 000s	242.4	248.2	191.1	249.7	318.0	321.1
Persons aged 15-24	Self-employed rate, %	1.4%	1.3%	2.6%	1.5%	1.3%	1.2%
	Self-employed, 000s	330.0	317.7	308.2	306.6	341.0	335.4
	In employment, 000s	2249.7	2296.2	2138.1	2349.1	2554.6	2643.0
Total persons	Self-employed rate, %	14.7%	13.8%	14.4%	13.1%	13.3%	12.7%

Source: Labour Force Survey (LFS), Central Statistics Office, Ireland.
Data may be subject to future revision.
Data may be subject to sampling or other survey errors, which are greater in respect of smaller values or estimates of change.
Reference period: q1=Jan-Mar,q2 Apr-Jun,q3=Jul-Sep,q4 Oct-Dec.
Estimates for number of persons, where there are less than 30 persons in a cell, are too small to be considered reliable. These estimates are presented with an asterisk (*) in the relevant tables. Where there are 30-49 persons in a cell, estimates are considered to have a wider margin of error and should be treated with caution. These cells are presented with parentheses []. In the case of rates, these limits apply to the denominator used in generating the rate. In the case of annual changes, both the current year and the preceding year are taken into account when deciding whether the estimate should be suppressed or flagged as having a wider margin of error.

Numbers of self employed persons of non-Irish citizenship and rate of self-employment, Q2 2018 -

		Q2 2018	Q2 2019	Q2 2020	Q2 2021	Q2 2022	Q2 2023
	Self-employed, 000s	34.0	32.6	28.7	36.6	42.0	45.5
	In employment, 000s	365.1	379.2	350.9	397.3	469.3	526.5
Non-Irish citizens	Self-employed rate, %	9.3%	8.6%	8.2%	9.2%	8.9%	8.6%
	Self-employed, 000s	330.0	317.7	308.2	306.6	341.0	335.4
	In employment, 000s	2249.7	2296.2	2138.1	2349.1	2554.6	2643.0
Total persons	Self-employed rate, %	14.7%	13.8%	14.4%	13.1%	13.3%	12.7%

Source: Labour Force Survey (LFS), Central Statistics Office, Ireland.
Data may be subject to future revision.
Data may be subject to sampling or other survey errors, which are greater in respect of smaller values or estimates of change.
Reference period: q1=Jan-Mar,q2 Apr-Jun,q3=Jul-Sep,q4 Oct-Dec.
Estimates for number of persons, where there are less than 30 persons in a cell, are too small to be considered reliable. These estimates are presented with an asterisk (*) in the relevant tables. Where there are 30-49 persons in a cell, estimates are considered to have a wider margin of error and should be treated with caution. These cells are presented with parentheses []. In the case of rates, these limits apply to the denominator used in generating the rate. In the case of annual changes, both the current year and the preceding year are taken into account when deciding whether the estimate should be suppressed or flagged as having a wider margin of error.