Nearly 8 000 from the over 49 000 business enterprises established in Bulgaria in 2008 have been closed a year later.

The data comes from a study of the Bulgarian National Statistics Institute, NSI, released Tuesday under the title 2009 Business Demography.

The most stable businesses during the first year of the economic crisis were in the production and supply of electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning, while real estate companies were at the other end of the ranking.

The NSI data further shows that companies with 10 or more employees survive the longest, but only 2% of newborn companies in 2009 have been of that type.

In 2009 there were 327 647 active enterprises in Bulgaria, which is almost 21% higher than the previous 2008, but active enterprises with zero employees (e.g. owner only) had the largest share of all active enterprises for the whole 2005 - 2009 period.

46% of the active companies did not hire workers. These companies provided jobs for only 6% of employed people in Bulgaria in 2009, while, at the same time, about 75% of all jobs have been in companies with 10 or more employees.

Less than 7% of the companies, established in 2004 have survived until 2009. Finance consulting and insurance business enjoy the greatest longevity while in the real estate sector less than 3% of all companies have remained on the market for over 5 years.

The entire study can be found HERE.