5,636,988
2025 (latest)
NEW BUSINESSES
applications per year · 2005–2025
2,504,996
2005
5,636,988
peak · 2025
2,428,403
low · 2009
+125%
since 2005
2026 SO FAR · THROUGH JUNE 2026
3,079,720applications, Jan–Jun 2026+16.5% vs H1 2025 (2,643,946)
Through June, 2026 is running ahead of every full year on record: 3.08 million applications in six months, up 16.5% on the same period of 2025. Census BFS monthly, seasonally adjusted.
Stripe's 2025 annual letter (Feb 2026) gives a private-sector read on the same trend: 25% of all Delaware corporations are now created with Stripe Atlas, businesses on Stripe processed $1.9 trillion in 2025 (up 34%), and 20% of Atlas startups charge their first customer within 30 days.
The Census Bureau counts every application for a new Employer Identification Number as a business application. The series was flat for fifteen years, dipped in the 2008 recession, then did something nobody predicted: it exploded during the pandemic. 2020 jumped 24% over 2019, 2021 jumped again, and the elevated pace has held every year since. 5,636,988 applications in 2025 is +125% above 2005.
| Year | New Business Applications | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 2,504,996 | — |
| 2006 | 2,621,411 | +4.6% |
| 2007 | 2,652,392 | +1.2% |
| 2008 | 2,521,737 | −4.9% |
| 2009 | 2,428,403 | −3.7% |
| 2010 | 2,497,405 | +2.8% |
| 2011 | 2,573,236 | +3.0% |
| 2012 | 2,574,634 | +0.1% |
| 2013 | 2,610,142 | +1.4% |
| 2014 | 2,666,367 | +2.2% |
| 2015 | 2,822,714 | +5.9% |
| 2016 | 2,975,857 | +5.4% |
| 2017 | 3,197,455 | +7.4% |
| 2018 | 3,498,607 | +9.4% |
| 2019 | 3,517,607 | +0.5% |
| 2020 | 4,379,813 | +24.5% |
| 2021 | 5,408,801 | +23.5% |
| 2022 | 5,083,802 | −6.0% |
| 2023 | 5,489,174 | +8.0% |
| 2024 | 5,246,630 | −4.4% |
| 2025 | 5,636,988 | +7.4% |
Source. FRED BABATOTALSAUS. Census Business Formation Statistics; tracking began July 2004, so the series starts 2005. Partial years excluded. Series page: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/BABATOTALSAUS