The significant increase in business creations since mid-2025 in the United States, France and Germany – and, to a lesser extent, in the United Kingdom – is continuing. Across the board, this trend is being driven by the information and communication sector and mostly by AI. It is spreading to other business services, while developments in consumer services, industry and construction are more mixed. However, in both the United States and France, the trend is broadening, suggesting that AI is facilitating business creation across all sectors.
Business creations by sector: a boom that is building momentum and spreading
A noticeable boom in the United States, France, and Germany, but not quite as pronounced in the United Kingdom
The four economies for which we have comparable data (the United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom) have all seen, to varying degrees, an increase in the number of new business creations. While the timing varies across these countries, most of them are enjoying strong momentum. In the United States, there has been a noticeable acceleration since the second quarter of 2025, which has continued to strengthen. Germany has followed a similar trajectory, moving from slight declines at the start of 2024 to sharp increases. France is experiencing the same trend but with some specific features, as momentum has picked up significantly after months of slowdown (due to the uncertainty following the dissolution of the National Assembly) and is accelerating across most sectors in 2026. In the United Kingdom, the trend is less pronounced and the increase may not last.
Business services, and AI in particular, are driving this momentum
In most of these four countries, business creations are rising significantly in the information and communication sector, which is directly linked to AI. In the United States, Germany and France, there has been a pronounced trend which is gaining momentum. In the United Kingdom, the AI sector is also seeing an increase, but it is significantly less pronounced. However, this momentum is not limited to this sector. It is spreading to many services sectors, including finance, real estate and business services. Growth has been sustained since mid-2025 in the United States and Germany, and since the third quarter of 2025 in France.
The picture for consumer services is more mixed. In the United States, trade, accommodation and catering have experienced major increases in creations since mid-2025. In France, these sectors are in positive territory, particularly trade, where the increase in business creations has recently accelerated. In Germany, these same sectors fell into negative territory in 2026 following a rather mixed year in 2025.
The situation is even more mixed for manufacturing and construction. In the United States, these sectors are also part of the overall positive momentum in the third quarter of 2026. This shows that AI does not only benefit sectors closely linked to it (notably the digital technology sector) but that it makes it easier to start a business across the entire economy (by simplifying administrative procedures in particular). In France, the upturn in business creations in the construction sector suggests that this same trend is at play, even as activity in the sector continues to contract.
Therefore, the trend is more widespread in the United States and is becoming increasingly prevalent in France. It is driven by specific sectors of the services industry in Germany, while it is significantly more subdued in the United Kingdom.
