Over 30,000 people set up new businesses in Ireland last year

The rate of early stage entrepreneurial activity in Ireland is at its highest since the onset of the economic crisis, with more than 30,000 people starting new businesses last year, according to a new report.

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report, released today, shows an increase in the rate of early stage entrepreneurial activity last year, to 9.2 per cent from 6.1 per cent in 2012. Ireland is now ranked second across the EU-15 and ninth among the EU-28 countries.

The report, which is supported by Enterprise Ireland, Forfás and the Department of Jobs, shows one in eleven of the adult population in Ireland are now engaged in some aspect of early stage entrepreneurial activity.

The rate at which individuals are turning to entrepreneurship out of necessity continued a downward trend to 19 per cent last year from 28 per cent in 2012. This rate is lower than the international averages across the OECD (21 per cent) and EU-28 (24 per cent).

Minsiter for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton said the report confirms that people are becoming more open to starting a business as a career option.

“We have great entrepreneurs in Ireland – we just don’t have enough of them. Start-up businesses account for around two thirds of new jobs created in Ireland,” he added.

He said the 2014 Action Plan for Jobs has a special focus on entrepreneurship.

“We have set down concrete measures with the objective of further improving the ecosystem to support greater levels of entrepreneurship and start-ups”.