January broke all records. Over 25,000 self-employed people have stopped doing business

"This is a consequence of the distressing situation on the market and uncertain prospects for the future," adds Petra Štěpánová, an analyst at Bisnode.

In 2020, almost one hundred thousand self-employed people suspended their business, which was 40 percent more than in 2019 "The unfavorable trend continues this year as well. Entrepreneurs are increasingly facing existential problems and running out of strength. The reason is primarily the long-lasting lockdown, which mainly affects the catering, accommodation, tourism, retail and services segments, however, related fields are also severely affected," the analyst comments on the situation.

In addition, a more detailed analysis by the consulting company Bisnode showed that the most interrupted trades in January 2021 were in the free trade Production, trade and services not listed in Annexes 1 to 3 of the Trade Act. It is the most common field of business among the self-employed, and the number of suspended businesses is comparable to the same period last year.

"However, we can observe a high year-on-year increase in all other fields from the TOP 10," the analyst pointed out. According to her, the highest relative growth was recorded in wholesale trade mediation (+ 1,126 percent), support activities in agriculture (+ 94 percent) and road freight transport (76 percent). In absolute terms, catering and construction site preparation recorded significant increases.

"However, it should be noted that in January we are still comparing pre-pandemic values ​​in 2020 and pandemic values ​​in 2021," concluded Štěpánová.