Parcel delivery has increased enormously in 2020. -

FRED SCHEIBER / SIPA

  • According to INSEE, 848,200 companies were created in 2020, a record.

  • This increase is driven by micro-enterprises, which represent 65% of creations.

  • Sectors such as parcel delivery and distance selling are on the rise.

This is a new record which completes the “prize list” of an already busy 2020 year.

According to figures unveiled by INSEE on Wednesday, France recorded 848,200 business creations last year, a level never before reached.

The coronavirus therefore seems - apparently - not to have slowed down the entrepreneurial fever.

The reality is a little more nuanced.

Indeed, the pace of business creations has slowed down considerably compared to previous years.

After + 17% in 2018 and + 18% in 2019, the increase is only 4% in 2020. This is mainly due to the almost complete shutdown of the economy in mid-March.

“During the first confinement, the number of creations temporarily fell, but a catching-up took place during the summer,” notes INSEE.

Micro-enterprises in the lead

As in recent years now, micro-enterprises are the main type of business created.

In 2020, they represent almost 65% of total creations (61.5% in 2019).

This predominance is explained by the fact that the micro-enterprise is easy to create (via an online declaration).

In addition, the maximum turnover limit to benefit from this status was doubled in 2018: it now stands at 176,000 euros (for sales / hosting activities), against 80,000 euros previously.

But the income is not often astronomical: a micro-entrepreneur receives an average of 470 euros per month, often because he combines it with another activity (salaried employment, for example).

Business creations in 2020 by

20 Minutes

Obviously, some sectors were particularly dynamic in 2020 in terms of business creation.

This is the case for “transport and warehousing”, “trade” and real estate activities, as our classification below shows:

Promising sectors in 2020 by

20 Minutes

Packages by the thousands

In transport, “post and courier activities” are popular, with 82,000 companies created in 2020 (+ 37% over one year), mainly in the field of home delivery.

These include, for example, parcel delivery micro-businesses, whose activity has been boosted by the two confinements and the reluctance of the French to go to stores to make purchases.

In November and December 2020, the volume of packages to be processed had thus increased by 30% compared to 2019!

The coronavirus crisis has also accelerated the trend of distance selling, since the number of new companies in this sector has increased by 60% in one year.

“There has been an acceleration of creations under the micro-entrepreneur regime in these activities since the first confinement, which has certainly had an impact,” indicates INSEE.

Finally, the last sector in good shape, and rather unexpected: real estate.

"Within this sector, the strongest increase concerns real estate agencies (+ 2,500 creations)" notes the study.

Asked about the possible causes of this craze, INSEE mentions as hypotheses "an anticipation of the growth of the real estate market" or the fashion of "virtual" agencies, which allow you to visit properties without moving.

One question remains unanswered for the moment: how many companies have been created to defraud the state?

Indeed, with the coronavirus, the government has generously distributed billions of euros to businesses in order to support activity and prevent a spike in unemployment.

But some took the opportunity to earn money in the process.

This is particularly what happened in Germany, where fictitious companies had been created in order to receive aid.

The robot portrait of the entrepreneur

What is the robot portrait of the business creator?

“In 2020 as in 2019, the creators of individual businesses are on average 36 years old,” notes INSEE.

Nevertheless, "the proportion of those under 30 is increasing: it is 41% in 2020, against 38% in 2019".

This rejuvenation can be explained: young people more often create micro-enterprises, which themselves represent an increasing share of the total.

Average age of micro entrepreneurs per

20 minutes

Women represent only 39% of business creators, as in 2019. “As in previous years, the proportion of men is highest in construction (98%), transport and warehousing (92%) as well as in information and communication (74%).

In contrast, women are the majority in human health and social action (74%), other household services (71%) ”, states the study.

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