Insurance, furniture, mining with biggest business closures in 2023

2024-07-01 10:56:00, Ekonomi CNA

Insurance, furniture, mining with biggest business closures in 2023

Illustrative photo, source Google

While the total number of businesses has increased last year, some activities are in crisis and are closing rapidly.

The sector with the highest closure of activities was "Insurance, reinsurance and financing of pension funds", where in 2023 it turns out that 180 enterprises were closed. These mainly represent self-employed persons with brokerage licenses and sales agents.

Furniture production marked a decrease in the number of businesses in 2023 with around 26 closed businesses. The decline of businesses in this sector continues for the tenth year in a row. Furniture manufacturers are not taking advantage of the high construction supply.

Small businesses in this sector are being bankrupted by the competition of imported furniture as it comes at a cheap cost. Labor shortages, rising raw material costs, and rising employee wages are leading to bankruptcies as work is concentrated in large manufacturers.

The new apartments in Tirana, even though they have been sold, are standing empty in a significant part, as hotels prefer to work with the big businesses of the sector, asserted F. Aliaj, who owns a small furniture production unit in Tirana. 361 enterprises operate in this activity throughout the country with a 6.7% decrease in 2023.

Mineral extraction activities ranked third for the largest number of closed businesses in 2023. INSTAT data refer that last year, the stock of businesses that extract minerals from underground or quarries shrank by 24 businesses, with an annual decrease of 5.4%.

The next activity with the largest closing of businesses was the education sector. Last year, the number of enterprises in education activities marked 1361 or 19 businesses less than in 2022, with a decrease of 1.4%.

The reduction in the number of children from fewer births and the high emigration of families is reducing the activities of kindergartens and private schools in the country.

Year after year, the number of children in schools is shrinking, putting pressure on the closure of activities in the field of education from kindergartens to universities.

Also, telecommunications and gambling activities saw a decline in the stock of enterprises in 2023, followed by water utilities, which are being reduced by a public sector reform that regroups enterprises into larger regional units./ Monitor