Construction sector grew by 23.1% between 2017 and 2021

Kenneth Fox

The number of active enterprises in the construction sector increased by 23.1 per cent between 2017 and 2021, the largest sector increase in this time, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

There were 2.3 million people engaged and 365,766 enterprises engaged in economic activity in 2021.

In 2021, there was a year-to-year increase in the number of enterprises in all size classes.

The other services sector represents 59.4 per cent of enterprises and 59.7 per cent of people engaged.

Small enterprises, i.e. those with less than 10 people, engaged accounted for 92.4 per cent of enterprises in the economy and 23.7 per cent of people engaged.

Large enterprises, i.e. those with 250 and more people engaged, accounted for 0.2 per cent of enterprises and 39.9 per cent of people engaged.

The number of new enterprise in 2021 at 35,783 was up 0.7 per cent on the 2020 figure while the number of people engaged associated new businesses fell by 36.4 per cent to 37,897 in 2021.

The other services sector accounted for 60.2 per cent of people engaged in newly birthed enterprises.

The number of enterprise closures in 2020 increased by 1.1 per cent compared with 2019, while the number of people part of enterprises closing down dropped by 11.6 per cent in the same period.

Commenting on the release, James O’Rourke, statistician in the Business Division, said: "Business Demography 2021 provides information on the business economy in Ireland. In 2021, there was an increase (+6.3 per cent) in the number of enterprises compared with 2020 and a 7.6 per cent increase in people engaged.

The Professional, Scientific, & Technical activities sector had the largest decrease of new enterprises (23.5 per cent).

There was an overall decline in the number of people engaged in new enterprises 26.6 per cent.

Kerry (12.8 per cent) and Donegal (10.8 per cent) had the highest proportion of Tourism Enterprises, while Dublin (11,768) had the highest number.

Dublin and Cork combined accounted for 43.4 per cent of enterprises in Ireland in 2021.

The other services sector accounted for 59.4 per cent of enterprises and 59.7 per cent of people engaged.

Construction accounted for 19.3 per cent of enterprises, but only 7.4 per cent of people engaged.

The number of large (over 250 people) enterprises represented just 0.2 per cent of enterprises but still accounted for 39.9 per cent of people engaged.