Wales saw the biggest percentage hike in businesses going bust across the 海角视频 in March.
The nation saw the number of dissolutions in March hit 2,359 - a 140% increase on March 2019 when 982 firms failed.
This compares to just a 20% rise in Scotland while the next worst affected part of the 海角视频 was the West Midlands, which saw a 109% increase.
Meanwhile there were 1,293 firms set-up in Wales over the month - a 28% reduction on March last year.
The analysis was done by the Enterprise Research Centre
Across the 海角视频 61,472 limited companies folded between the start of March and mid-April, with a parallel drop in the numbers of new firms registering with Companies House.
Comparing figures from March this year with the full month’s data from last March, the number of firms going out of business was 70% higher than a year ago (up 21,206), while the number of new firms incorporated fell by 23% (14,270 fewer).
Newer companies have borne the brunt of the collapse in economic activity, with 46% of dissolving firms being less than three years old.
Most Read
Mark Hart, deputy director of the Enterprise Research Centre and Professor of Entrepreneurship at Aston Business School, said: “These stark figures clearly show a significant rise in the number of company dissolutions and a parallel fall in new firm incorporations in a time period that coincides with the arrival of COVID-19 in the 海角视频.
“They suggest our economy is facing a pincer movement of sharply higher business closures and a concurrent lack of new businesses starting due to an understandable fear about what the future holds.
“The Chancellor has unveiled a substantive package of support for 海角视频 firms, but we know that many are struggling to access this assistance. If those shortcomings aren’t remedied fast, we’d expect to continue seeing a long, slow decline among the private-sector firms that support millions of jobs across the economy.
“In that context, rather than seeing a V-shaped rebound as some economists have predicted, we could instead see an L-shape dragged down by a net loss of companies over a long period.”
Daily Post columnist Professor Dylan Jones-Evans, who has been leading a campaign to get greater support for start-ups in Wales, said: “This data shows what many of us have suspected namely that not only are new businesses closing in Wales but the numbers being created are also slowing down.
"I have written to the First Minister to ask for specific financial support for those new businesses that are getting no help from either the Welsh or 海角视频 Governments and as yet, nothing has been done to address this.
"New firms have been shown to be the job creators in the economy and if we fail to support Welsh startups at this critical time, then it will undoubtedly have an effect on any economic recovery later this year."
Welsh Government today said it will be considering support for non-VAT registered businesses in the second stage of the Economic Resilience Fund. These micro-businesses have been left out of previous packages.