In January 2022, the number of active businesses increased by 0.7% (+6,291) compared with December 2021. This increase was mainly driven by a decrease in the business closure rate, from 4.7% in December 2021 to 3.8% in January 2022. The business opening rate (4.8%) was 0.1 percentage point higher in January 2022 than in December 2021.
With the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, several jurisdictions tightened public health restrictions in high-contact settings from late 2021 to early 2022. It was in these high-contact industries where the impact of tighter restrictions were observed. In January 2022, the number of active businesses in accommodation and food services (-0.3%; -156) and tourism (-0.2%; -146) industries showed negative growth for the first time since May 2021. The decrease was driven by an increase in business closures and a decrease in openings in these industries. There were more active businesses in January 2022 than in December 2021 in all other industries except mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (-0.2%; -12).
In January 2022, the reopening rate was 3.0%, up slightly from 2.9% in December 2021 while the entry rate remained at 1.8%. The opening and reopening rates have been within 0.2 percentage points of their respective historical average since April 2021 and since December 2020 for the entry rate.
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