Loud KfWAccording to the 2025 Start-up Monitor, new business founders in Germany were, on average, younger than ever since the survey began. The median age was 34.4 years. In the early 2000s, it was mostly between 37 and 38 years old. The increase is particularly significant in the 18- to 29-year-old age group: their share climbed to 39 percent—the highest value ever recorded.
This long-term rejuvenation is primarily due to a decline in the number of older founders. In 2024, 40- to 49-year-olds accounted for only 16 percent, and 50- to 65-year-olds even only 12 percent—the lowest proportion of so-called "silver entrepreneurs" to date. In the previous year, these figures were 19 and 15 percent, respectively.
These are the findings of the annual Start-up Monitor. In 2024, 50,000 representative telephone interviews were conducted for the KfW Start-up Monitor, as well as, for the first time, an additional 10,000 online interviews. The term "start-up founders" is broadly defined: This includes people who have become self-employed full-time or part-time, freelance or commercial, through a new start-up, equity investment, or acquisition.
Slight increase in start-up activity
In 2024, a total of 585,000 new businesses were registered – 17,000 more than in the previous year. This corresponds to an increase of 3 percent. The increase is due solely to part-time start-ups, which grew by 5 percent to 382,000. Full-time start-ups, on the other hand, declined slightly to 203,000.
The cooling labor market is likely to have contributed to the increase. Despite this development, the propensity to start a business in Germany remains low overall.
"The propensity to start a business in Germany is low. This has certainly been due in part to the strong economy in recent years; people have opted for the security of employment. It's a question of mentality. But it's also about education,"
explained Dirk Schumacher, Chief Economist at KfW. He emphasizes the importance of financial education:
"Greater confidence in financial matters increases the likelihood of starting a business. Therefore, it's positive that the new government has included entrepreneurship education as a goal for school quality and teacher training in its coalition agreement."
Structural changes in capital and form of foundation
Startups are becoming more capital-intensive: In 2024, only 56 percent of startups needed up to €5,000 in start-up capital, compared to more than two-thirds previously. Furthermore, 75 percent of founders relied exclusively on their own funds, a historic high.
The share of new companies was 83 percent, while acquisitions and investments remained less common at 10 and 7 percent, respectively. Schumacher warns:
"The succession gap in companies is enormous. It would therefore be desirable for more people to decide to take over existing companies."
The level of digitalization also reached a new high: 36 percent of startups were digital. In addition, new startups created 485,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
Another bright spot: Young people's preference for starting a business remains high. 36 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds said they would prefer to be self-employed rather than employed. The planning rate recovered to 4.9 percent after a low in 2023.
“We expect a slight increase in the number of start-ups in 2025,”
so Schumacher.
The proportion of female founders was 36 percent in 2024. On average, women account for 39 percent of startup activity over the long term. It is striking that they are more likely to pursue temporary self-employment (28 percent) than their male counterparts (17 percent).
