In Russia, 208,500 companies were closed in nine months - almost twice as many as were opened.
From January to September 2026, about 109 thousand new organizations were registered in Russia, while 208.5 thousand ceased their activities, according to Rostat data. A year earlier, 140.5 thousand companies were opened, 206 thousand were closed. Thus the number of registrants decreased by 22%, and the number of closures increased slightly.
The only branch with a positive balance was mining - 786 new enterprises against 776 enterprises that were eliminated. The largest excess of closures over openings was recorded in trade - 68.5 thousand against 31.6 thousand, as well as in construction - about 29 thousand against 14.3 thousand.
Experts attribute the decline in business activity to expensive loans, to an increase in personnel costs, rent, logistics and raw materials, as well as to an increase in the tax burden. Additional pressure is exerted by raising the income tax to 25%, VAT to 22% and reducing the income threshold for paying VAT under the simple tax system from 60 million to 20 million rubles.
At the same time, the statistics take into account not only the liquidation of existing organizations, but also the administrative exclusion from the United State Register of legal entities of inactive organizations and companies with false information. Therefore, not all closures can be directly linked to the financial difficulties of the business.
According to the academic director of the business management program at the Higher School of Business of the Higher School of Economics of the National Research University Dmitry Kentko, stabilization of the situation is possible in 2027. However, even with the lowering of the key interest rate, the loans will be discounted late, and the number of liquidations may continue to exceed the number of new registrations.