32,298 new companies have already been created this year in Portugal
O Jornal Económico
· 13 Sep 2022
The Transport sector grew 137% year-on-year by setting up 2,641 new companies since January, and is the sector that stands out most in terms of entrepreneurship.
In the first eight months of the year 32,298 new companies were created in Portugal, which represents a growth of 17% compared to the same period in 2021, reveals the Informa D&B Barometer.
In a statement, the company said that the Transport sector grew 137% year-on-year by setting up 2,641 new companies since January. The increase in entrepreneurship in the Transport sector "has occurred for more than a year in a row, after this was also one of the sectors most penalised by the pandemic in 2020 and part of 2021".
Also noteworthy are "the growth of new companies in the sectors of General Services (+941 set-ups, +27%), Business Services (+709 set-ups, +15%) and Accommodation and catering (+568 set-ups, +23%). Retail (-12%), Agriculture and other natural resources (-2%) and Industry (-1%) are the only sectors to register a drop in the creation of new companies compared to 2021," the note reads.
Despite the positive trend, the entrepreneurship figures recorded until 31 August 2022 keep the creation of companies 6% below the figures recorded in 2019. "Information and communication technologies (+28%), Real estate activities (+20%) and Business Services (+1.5%) are the sectors that already exceed the values" pre-pandemic.
"Business closures register a mixed trend according to the sectors of activity. In the accumulated period from January to August 2022, 7,684 companies have closed, 15 fewer closures than the same period the previous year, equivalent to a very minor variation (-0.2%)," the document adds. Most sectors recorded lower closure figures than 2021, but some showed increases, such as Retail (+127 closures, +11.6%), Real Estate Activities (+46 closures, +9%) and also Accommodation and catering (+12 closures, +1.5%).
When it comes to new insolvency proceedings, the continuation of the downward trend that has been observed since May 2020 is observed. Between 1 January and 31 August, 1 068 companies started insolvency proceedings, a figure that represents a 22% decrease compared to 2021 (-297 new proceedings), increasing the decrease that occurred in 2021.
"Industries, Accommodation and catering and Retail are the sectors with the highest number of insolvencies, but they are also those in which this indicator shows a greater drop compared to the same period. The Transport sector also stands out for being the only one to register an increase in the number of insolvency cases in this period (+10 cases; +16%)," concludes Informa D&B.
