Articles
Food and Beverage Service Enterprise Births and Deaths in Ireland: CSO Business Demography 2017 to 2024
The CSO's Business Demography tables give 1,868 "Enterprise Births" in 2024 for "Food and Beverage Service Activities (I56)", against 16,783 "Active Enterprises". For deaths, the latest "Final Enterprise Deaths" figure is 1,586, for 2022, and the latest "Preliminary Enterprise Deaths" figure is 1,836, for 2023. The tables have no separate figure for cafés. The CSO gives survival as counts only, and in our reading, by our arithmetic, 47.0% of the 2019 births are counted as surviving five years in 2024.
How many Enterprise Births are there each year?
The CSO's "Enterprise Births" for "Food and Beverage Service Activities (I56)" were 1,868 in 2024, the latest year. The earlier years were 1,695 in 2019, 1,476 in 2020, 467 in 2021, 1,795 in 2022 and 1,925 in 2023.
We use the CSO's label for the group exactly and do not say what it includes beyond those words. We also do not define a birth beyond the CSO's label. Against 16,783 "Active Enterprises" in 2024, the 2024 births are 11.1%, which is our arithmetic.
How many Final and Preliminary Enterprise Deaths are there each year?
The CSO's "Final Enterprise Deaths" were 1,586 in 2022, the latest year with a final figure. Its "Preliminary Enterprise Deaths" were 1,836 in 2023, the latest year with a preliminary figure.
The two run to different years. The final figures are 1,608 in 2017, 1,437 in 2018, 1,662 in 2019, 1,615 in 2020, 1,236 in 2021 and 1,586 in 2022. The preliminary figures are 1,637 in 2018, 1,881 in 2019, 1,879 in 2020, 1,405 in 2021, 1,744 in 2022 and 1,836 in 2023. We do not compare the preliminary figures with the final ones, because they are separate rows in the CSO's table.
Births come from table BRA31 and deaths from table BRA33, so they are different tables. The table below puts BRA31's Enterprise Births and BRA33's Final and Preliminary Enterprise Deaths side by side for each year; we do not subtract one from the other.
How many Enterprise births surviving five years to reference year are there?
The CSO's table BRA36 gives 797 in its 2024 column of "Enterprise births surviving five years to reference year". Table BRA36 gives counts only, with no rates, so any share is ours.
Here is our reading. We read the 2024 column of "Enterprise births surviving five years to reference year" (797) against the 2019 "Enterprise Births" (1,695, table BRA31), as births of 2019 counted in 2024. That is 47.0% by our arithmetic. For one year, 2024 one-year survivors of 1,639 against 2023 births of 1,925 give 85.1%, also ours.
The 2024 column holds these counts as published: surviving one year 1,639, two years 1,251, three years 215, four years 755 and five years 797. We draw nothing from how they compare with each other.
How many Active Enterprises are there in Food and Beverage Service Activities (I56)?
The CSO's "Active Enterprises" for "Food and Beverage Service Activities (I56)" were 16,783 in 2024, the latest year. Earlier years were 15,576 in 2019, 15,370 in 2020, 15,596 in 2021, 16,245 in 2022 and 16,580 in 2023. For a count from a different CSO table, see how many food and beverage service enterprises there are. For money, see our page on food and beverage service turnover.
Why are 2021 births so low in the table?
The tables give no reason, so this page gives none. The 2021 "Enterprise Births" figure is 467, against 1,476 in 2020 and 1,795 in 2022.
The CSO's table BRA31 carries this note: "From 2022 non market-producers are excluded from Business Demography. This methodology was applied to 2021 in a revision." We quote it as published and draw nothing from it.
Where do these numbers come from?
They come from three CSO Business Demography tables, all updated 6 October 2026. BRA31 gives births and active enterprises, to 2024. BRA33 gives deaths, with final figures to 2022 and preliminary figures to 2023. BRA36 gives survival counts for reference years 2019 to 2024; we use its 2024 column. We took the rows for "Food and Beverage Service Activities (I56)", all size classes and all legal forms, and we read the tables on 23 October 2026.
You can download the figures as a CSV, with the table code and the CSO's label in each column name. If you cite it: Cupán Studio, from CSO tables BRA31, BRA33 and BRA36, read 23 October 2026.
| Year | Active Enterprises | Enterprise Births | Final Enterprise Deaths | Preliminary Enterprise Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 15,576 | 1,695 | 1,662 | 1,881 |
| 2020 | 15,370 | 1,476 | 1,615 | 1,879 |
| 2021 | 15,596 | 467 | 1,236 | 1,405 |
| 2022 | 16,245 | 1,795 | 1,586 | 1,744 |
| 2023 | 16,580 | 1,925 | 1,836 | |
| 2024 | 16,783 | 1,868 |
Sources
- Central Statistics Office, table BRA31, Business Demography NACE Rev 2, updated 6 October 2026, read 23 October 2026.
- Central Statistics Office, table BRA33, Enterprise Deaths NACE Rev 2, updated 6 October 2026, read 23 October 2026.
- Central Statistics Office, table BRA36, Enterprise Survival NACE Rev 2, updated 6 October 2026, read 23 October 2026.
Figures from CSO tables BRA31, BRA33 and BRA36, read 23 October 2026; shares are ours; counts as published. A summary of published statistics, not financial advice. Cupán Studio builds websites for cafés in Ireland.
One coffee or café fact a day, drawn. That is what we post on Instagram. @cupanstudio
Can an AI assistant read your café's hours and menu? Paste your address into our free check and see in a few seconds. Nothing is stored.