More businesses were shut down than opened in Greece in the first five months of 2016, according to figures by the newly established General Electronic Commercial Registry (GEMI).
Specifically, from January 1st, 2016 until May 31st, 12,538 new businesses were registered. At the same time, 15,548 businesses were deleted from the registry.
This is the first time since the onset of the economic crisis that the number of new businesses was lower than that of defunct enterprises. Even at the peak of recession (2012-2013) there were more businesses opening than closing.
In 2012, 44.412 new businesses started and 37,821 closed. In 2013, 44,591 started and 37,086 were shut down. In 2014, 38,100 new businesses were registered and 35,655 closed down. In 2015, 30,844 new enterprises were registered and 26,764 deleted.
The GEMI figures indicate that 2016 is, so far, the first year where the balance between new and defunct businesses is on the negative side.
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