Ireland business report · published 24 October 2026

New Companies in Ireland: January to September 2026

22,317 new companies were registered in January–September 2026 — +9.8% on January–September 2025. Built from the full Companies Registration Office register.

22,317

new companies, January–September 2026

+9.8% year on year

7,218

in July–September alone

+3.3% on the same quarter of 2025

2,891

in June 2026

the busiest month since at least 2024

Summary

Ireland registered 22,317 new companies in January–September 2026, up 9.8% from 20,323 in January–September 2025 and 23% ahead of the same period in 2024. 2025 was itself the busiest year for new companies since the CRO began tracking the trend in 2016.

Growth slowed in the third quarter. 7,218 companies were registered between July and September, 3.3% more than a year earlier, against 13.2% growth in the first half. July was up 10.5% and September 2.9%, but August fell 5.6% to 1,861, the quietest month of 2026 so far.

Outside Dublin, Westmeath had the most new companies per head of population (44.2 per 10,000 people), followed by Louth (40.9) and Kildare (40.1). Kilkenny grew fastest (+23.2%), while 8 counties registered fewer companies than a year earlier, led by Leitrim (-19.8%).

By sector, software and IT services recorded 1,829 new companies, +54.7% on last year. New restaurants, cafés and bars held steady (+0.1%), and new farming companies fell 25.8%.

By county

Sorted by new companies per 10,000 people. Population: CSO Census 2022.

County20262025ChangePer 10,000 people
Dublin9,7018,631+12.4%
66.5
Westmeath425434-2.1%
44.2
Louth572510+12.2%
40.9
Kildare993891+11.4%
40.1
Meath849779+9.0%
38.4
Wicklow584498+17.3%
37.5
Clare476480-0.8%
37.2
Cork2,1421,986+7.9%
36.7
Limerick757669+13.2%
36.1
Galway984882+11.6%
35.4
Offaly283235+20.4%
34.0
Laois304248+22.6%
33.1
Donegal542489+10.8%
32.4
Wexford528476+10.9%
32.2
Monaghan207223-7.2%
31.7
Kerry470449+4.7%
30.0
Tipperary501492+1.8%
29.8
Kilkenny308250+23.2%
29.6
Cavan234259-9.7%
28.6
Waterford361348+3.7%
28.3
Sligo191160+19.4%
27.2
Longford124129-3.9%
26.5
Carlow162173-6.4%
26.1
Mayo349334+4.5%
25.3
Roscommon176185-4.9%
25.1
Leitrim85106-19.8%
24.1

Dublin's figure is inflated by companies using a Dublin accountant or formation agent as their registered office, so it is not directly comparable with other counties.

By sector

Sector (NACE division)20262025Change
Software & IT services 621,8291,182+54.7%
Architecture & engineering 71636483+31.7%
Motor trade & repair 45533428+24.5%
Building construction 411,072878+22.1%
Education 85453383+18.3%
Management consultancy & head offices 701,8541,641+13.0%
Specialised construction trades 431,3681,230+11.2%
Financial & holding companies 642,8162,565+9.8%
Restaurants, cafés & bars 561,0341,033+0.1%
Farming 01423570-25.8%

Method and sources

Counts every company on the Companies Registration Office open-data register with a registration date in each period, whatever its current status, as of 22 October 2026. Our 2025 monthly totals add up to 26,533, exactly the figure in the CRO Annual Report 2025.

County is taken from the registered office address (or its Eircode where the county is not written); 9 companies could not be placed. Registered office is not always where a company trades. Population figures are from CSO Census 2022, table FY003B.

Registrations coded to office administration (NACE 82) roughly halved from October 2025 in a single step, which looks like a change in how activities are coded rather than a real fall, so it is left out.

Free to reuse with credit to LocallyIrish.ie, under CC BY 4.0. Contains CRO data (CC BY 4.0) and CSO data.

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