Company creation in Portugal fell 3% since the beginning of 2024 until the end of August, totaling only 36,124 new companies, according to the Informa D&B barometer. The decline was across all sectors of activity. Of the new companies incorporated, 5,398 belong to the Construction sector, which became the second sector with the most incorporations in absolute terms. The Information and Communication Technologies sector was a positive exception, with growth of 5.3%.
The Services, Construction and Real Estate Activities sectors concentrate almost two-thirds of new company incorporations since the beginning of the year. Conversely, the sectors that recorded the biggest declines were Agriculture, with 27% fewer, Accommodation and Catering, with 10% fewer, and Transport, with 12% fewer.
Regarding geographic distribution, Lisbon, Faro and Funchal were the districts with the biggest drop in company creation, while Santarém, Porto, Coimbra, Angra do Heroísmo and Vila Real recorded increases in the number of incorporations.
As for company closures, 7,802 closed since the beginning of the year, representing a decline of 7.8% compared to the previous year. However, insolvencies increased by 1.3%, with 1,327 companies having insolvency proceedings opened.
