In the first quarter of the year, over 233,000 people in the Czech Republic decided to start their own businesses. According to the Czech Credit Bureau, the number of entrepreneurs increased by over 5,600, even after accounting for those who ended their ventures—the largest increase since 2011.
“There has been a noticeable interest in entrepreneurship since the beginning of the year. The improving economic situation can be the reason,” says Věra Kameníčková, an analyst at the Czech Credit Bureau. Most people, over four thousand, began their business endeavors in Prague, followed by Central Bohemia and South Moravia regions. The only decline was recorded in the Karlovy Vary region.
Interestingly, the fastest growth in the number of entrepreneurs is in information and communication activities, where for every ten who ended their activities, there were 37 new ones.
In April, the Czech Credit Bureau announced fifty-three bankruptcies of commercial companies. At the same time, ninety-eight bankruptcy proposals were filed, the most since June last year. “The rate of company bankruptcies in the Czech Republic is very low in the long term, especially compared with neighboring countries. Even though the number of company bankruptcy proposals, which usually indicates a higher number of bankruptcies in the following months, increased in April, it is far from an alarming increase,” says Kameníčková.
According to her, the largest bankrupt company was Walbo Railway, a supplier of wheels and axles. According to the latest published reports, it remained profitable until 2021 but had high debt.