Methodology
The data used in this study is extracted from the Ellisphere database on January 24, 2022. The Ellisphere repository provides economic, legal and financial information on French entities up to 10 years after their termination date. The study considers entities registered with SIREN and NIC in metropolitan France whose activity and legal form are known at the date of extraction.
Unequal renewal of the entrepreneurial fabric according to the size of the companies
If the population of companies remains dynamic and offers a satisfactory renewal in terms of the number of new entities, is it also a population that is gaining in company size (VSE, SME, ETI or GE*)?
Decade 2012-2021: significant renewal of the VSE and SME populations
Between 2012 and 2021, in the VSE category, there are 1.1 entities created for every 1 disappearance. The good growth in the number of companies created has compensated for the fact that the number of annual disappearances has remained stagnant. In the SME category, over the decade studied, the result is 1.2 companies that have reached this size for every one that disappears. This result deteriorated from 2019 onwards, as the time allowed to reach this size was longer. Indeed, the recent economic situation in the context of the health crisis may have had a greater impact on the development of companies, particularly in terms of turnover and number of employees.
Conversely, over the period 2012-2021, the balance remained unfavorable for Intermediate-sized Companies (ISCs) and Large Companies. For these categories, excluding those created through mergers, spin-offs or buyouts, it remains difficult to grow strongly over a short period. Becoming a national or even international champion is a glass ceiling that many French companies are unable to surpass. Despite a good resilience (low loss rate), the population of TPEs and large companies has been shrinking over the period.
*VSE: Very Small Enterprise; SME: Small and Medium Enterprise; ISE: Intermediate Enterprise; LSE: Large Enterprise
Size reached by the companies created
The consideration of the size of the enterprises is made on the day of the statistical extraction, i.e. January 24, 2022.
Ex: 530 companies created in 2014 have become TSEs by January 24, 2022 or 12,006 companies created in 2016 have become SMEs by January 24, 2022.
Size reached by the companies at their disappearance
The consideration of the size of the firms is done on the day of the statistical extraction, i.e. January 24, 2022.
Ex: 114,620 firms disappeared in 2012 were VSEs or 7,993 firms disappeared in 2015 were SMEs.
