Last year was a record year for company start-ups with an average of almost 62 new companies formed every day, according to figures from business and credit risk analyst CRIF Vision-net.

Some 22,493 new companies were formed in 2018, which represented an increase of 0.5 per cent on the previous year when there were 22,380 new companies formed.

Professional services accounted for 20 per cent of new start-ups (4,575), followed by finance at 15 per cent (3,326), and social and personal services at 12 per cent (2,726).

The figures also show there were 756 company insolvencies in 2018, which was a decrease of 26 per cent on the 1,018 insolvencies in 2017. There was a downward trend in insolvencies in nearly every sector and county.

The professional services sector made up 17 per cent of all insolvencies (128), followed by construction (122), and wholesale and retail (119) at 16 per cent each.

CRIF Vision-net managing director Christine Cullen said the corporate landscape was healthy in spite of geopolitical uncertainty.

“2018 was the second consecutive record-breaking year for new company start-ups,” she said. “Despite geopolitical uncertainty, economic activity has increased, albeit at a slower rate, and remained diversified across multiple sectors.”