Western Development Commission report shows positive growth in businesses

There has been a strong recovery in enterprises in Galway since the recession, according to a new report from the Western Development Commission.

The report – based on CSO Business Demography data just released – shows that in 2017, there were 18,727 enterprises registered in Galway which employed a total of 92,996 (which includes the owners and their employees).

The research shows that while the number of enterprises registered here fell by 2.2% between 2008-12 – during the economic crash – there was 5.8% growth from 2012-17, although this compares to 11% nationally.

“Much of this growth occurred in more recent years and particularly between 2016 and 2017,” the WDC report reads.

In Galway, employees accounted for 86.8% of everyone working in enterprises. This was lower than the 90% state average meaning that owners accounted for a larger share of the enterprise workforce in the county.

The data for Galway highlighted that 92.5% of enterprises were micro-enterprises (employing fewer than 10 people). However, because of their small size micro-enterprises only accounted for 31.7% of everyone working in enterprises in Galway.

The data shows that micro-enterprises play a more significant role in Galway than nationally, both in terms of their share of all enterprises (92.5% in Galway, 92.1% nationally) and their share of employment in enterprises (31.7% in Galway, 26.5% nationally).

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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