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Food and Beverage Service Enterprises by Legal Form in Ireland: CSO Figures 2019 to 2024
The CSO's table BRA32 gives 16,783 "Active Enterprises" in 2024 for "Food and Beverage Service Activities (I56)". Of those, 9,821 are "Public and private limited companies" (58.5% by our arithmetic), 6,092 are "Individual proprietorship" (36.3%) and 870 are "Other legal forms of ownership" (5.2%). In 2019 the figures were 7,949, 6,570 and 1,057. The table has no separate figure for cafés, and it does not say which legal form is better for any business.
How many Active Enterprises in Food and Beverage Service Activities (I56) are Individual proprietorship, and how many are Public and private limited companies?
The CSO counts 6,092 "Individual proprietorship" and 9,821 "Public and private limited companies" among 16,783 "Active Enterprises" in 2024, the latest year. That is 36.3% and 58.5%, which is our arithmetic.
The third group, "Other legal forms of ownership", is 870, or 5.2%, also ours. The CSO labels the dimension "Legal Form". We use the CSO's labels and say nothing about what any group includes beyond them.
How are Persons Engaged in Active Enterprises split by Legal Form?
The CSO gives 168,741 "Persons Engaged in Active Enterprises" in 2024: 18,418 in "Individual proprietorship", 136,714 in "Public and private limited companies" and 13,609 in "Other legal forms of ownership".
As shares, which are ours, that is 10.9%, 81.0% and 8.1%. So "Individual proprietorship" is 36.3% of Active Enterprises and 10.9% of Persons Engaged in Active Enterprises. We give both as figures and no reason for the difference, because the table gives none. For the same enterprises by size class, see our page on enterprises by size.
How do 2024 counts by Legal Form compare with 2019?
"Public and private limited companies" went from 7,949 "Active Enterprises" in 2019 to 9,821 in 2024, which is 23.6% more by our arithmetic. "Individual proprietorship" went from 6,570 to 6,092, which is 7.3% fewer, and "Other legal forms of ownership" from 1,057 to 870, which is 17.7% fewer. All legal forms went from 15,576 to 16,783, which is 7.7% more. The changes are ours.
As shares of all Active Enterprises, that is 42.2%, 51.0% and 6.8% in 2019, against 36.3%, 58.5% and 5.2% in 2024, in the order "Individual proprietorship", "Public and private limited companies" and "Other legal forms of ownership". The shares are ours. The CSO's table BRA32 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.
The years in between are in the table below. We give the counts and no reason for any change, because the table gives none.
How many Enterprise Births were there by Legal Form in 2024?
The CSO's "Enterprise Births" were 1,868 in 2024: 680 in "Individual proprietorship", 1,025 in "Public and private limited companies" and 163 in "Other legal forms of ownership".
The three add up to the total of 1,868. For births and deaths across the years, see our page on enterprise births and deaths.
Where do these numbers come from?
They come from the CSO's Business Demography table BRA32, updated 6 October 2026. We took the rows for "Food and Beverage Service Activities (I56)", by the dimension "Legal Form", for 2019 to 2024, and we read the table on 23 October 2026. The statistics are "Active Enterprises", "Persons Engaged in Active Enterprises" and "Enterprise Births".
You can download the figures as a CSV. If you cite it: Cupán Studio, from CSO table BRA32, read 23 October 2026. If you are weighing up a business name as well, our page on registering a business name is related reading.
| Year | Individual proprietorship | Public and private limited companies | Other legal forms of ownership | All legal forms of ownership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 6,570 | 7,949 | 1,057 | 15,576 |
| 2020 | 6,342 | 8,123 | 905 | 15,370 |
| 2021 | 6,180 | 8,566 | 850 | 15,596 |
| 2022 | 6,250 | 9,143 | 852 | 16,245 |
| 2023 | 6,192 | 9,579 | 809 | 16,580 |
| 2024 | 6,092 | 9,821 | 870 | 16,783 |
Sources
- Central Statistics Office, table BRA32, Business Demography NACE Rev 2, by Legal Form, updated 6 October 2026, read 23 October 2026.
Figures from CSO table BRA32, read 23 October 2026; shares and changes are ours; counts as published. A summary of published statistics, not financial or legal advice. Cupán Studio builds websites for cafés in Ireland.
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