Rise in self-employment (auto-entreprises) but also in incorporated start-ups in 2010

In 2010, 622,000 enterprises were created in France, up 7% from 2009. Of the total, 163,600 were incorporated firms (up 7%) and 458,400 unincorporated businesses (entreprises individuelles), including 359,700 applications for “self-entrepreneur” (auto-entrepreneur) status-a 12% surge on the previous year. In 2009, nine out of ten such applications had been accepted by ACOSS (central social-security agency), and one half of these self-entrepreneurs went on to report a profit that year. One in four new enterprises is an incorporated firm, and sole-ownership legal forms are increasingly common. The sectors that registered the greatest gains in business creation were construction and real estate. The number of applications for self-entrepreneurship status rose in most regions-particularly, in 2010, in the overseas départements. Most start-ups have no paid employees. The average age of founders of unincorporated businesses fell slightly from 39 in 2009 to 38 in 2010.