Europe 1 with AFP 11:06 a.m., January 14, 2022

INSEE reported on Friday that the number of business creations for the whole of 2021 amounted to 995,868, up 17.4% compared to 2020, setting a new historic record.

An increase which is explained by the low level of business creations by confinements, in 2020.

The number of business creations in France increased by 17.4% in 2021, approaching one million and setting a new historic record, but fell off at the end of the year, INSEE reported on Friday.

In total, 995,868 companies were created in France last year, compared to 848,164 in 2020, which had already been a record year.

The sharp increase in business creations last year is explained by “the particularly low level of creations during the first confinement in 2020”, according to the INSEE press release.

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640,000 new auto-entrepreneur registrations

As in previous years, the dynamic of entrepreneurship was driven in 2021 by new registrations of auto-entrepreneurs, which exceeded 640,000, up 17%, but also by those of new companies, up 24%. .3% to over 270,000.

Conversely, the status of traditional sole proprietorship is less attractive, with registrations increasing by only 1.7% over the year, and even falling by 12.3% in the fourth quarter.

In 2021, the business creations that have increased the most are those of household services, up 30%, financial activities and insurance (+30.6%), information and communication (+25.4% ) and transportation and warehousing (+24.9%).

This last category notably includes home deliveries, which have exploded with the health crisis.

Company creations increased by 7.7%

But all business creations fell by 1.4% in the fourth quarter compared to the last quarter of 2020, in particular due to a decline in the sub-category "other postal and courier activities" - which includes deliveries - and which recorded 9,300 fewer creations over one year, a sign that the boom in new delivery driver registrations has come to an end.

The creation of companies continued to progress, by 7.7%, over this period.

Finally, after a 3.6% drop in November, business creations rebounded by 0.8% over one month in December, in particular thanks to the business support (+5.3%) and construction sectors. (+5.6%).

Last month, the registrations of micro-entrepreneurs, which represent 64.4% of the total, increased by 2.7%, while those of traditional sole proprietorships fell by 2.4%.