How many new businesses start up each year?

Between March and December of 2009, the most recent year for which data has been provided as of January 2015, the number of business "births" ranged from 172,000 to 177,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The oldest births tracked by the BLS start in 1993.

The BLS reports that the 1990s saw a peak in births that has since been followed by a general decline. The biggest drop in the number of new businesses, as of 2009, occurred in 2007 due to the economic recession. This decline was worse than the 2001 recession, according to the BLS. Additionally, the number of business deaths surpassed the birth rate every year from 2007 to 2009.