Our latest figures show that 14,279 Irish companies have been formed so far this year (1st Jan - 15th Dec), this is already up on the figure for all of last year (14,102).

On average this year we've seen company Start-Ups being roughly 5% up on the same period in 2010. If that rate continues until year end, company formation levels will be in line with what we experienced in 2008.

The Business and Professional Services sector is the most popular industry for Start-Ups this year, accounting for almost 24% of new companies. Companies linked to the service sector feature highly with Wholesale & Retail, Social & Personal Services and I.T contributing a further 38% of Start-Ups this year.

Construction continues to struggle with less than 900 firms choosing to enter the sector this year, this is approximately 6% of the total for New Companies.