More than 20,000 businesses were started in the first half of 2013 in Portugal, and if the level continues to grow until the end of the year it may reach the highest number registered since 2009.
According to a business barometer by Informa D&B, which uses information from the Ministry of Justice’s online database, this figure represents a 17.8% growth when compared to the first six months of last year, and although the companies and jobs created are far from compensating the ones lost, matters are not looking as bleak as before.
“If this tendency continues, 2013 may well be the best year in terms of new companies since 2009,” said a spokesperson.
Since the beginning of the year and up until March, the rate of growth was placed at around 25% (in January alone it was around 46%) while the number of bankruptcies decreased by 6.2%, making it the first drop in the last five years.
In the first six months of this year, 6,848 companies closed down, representing a 16.8% drop when compared to the same period last year and, once again, if the tendency continues, it is believed that this year will register fewer insolvency cases than 2011.
It was concluded as well that the sectors most affected in the past have been those that launched the most companies that year, such as the services industry (20% increase in openings and 31% drop in insolvency) and construction branch (18% rise in launched companies and 18% decrease in insolvency).
Geographically, the districts of Aveiro, Porto, Braga and Leiria were the ones that registered a growth above 20% in terms of new businesses started. Excluding Leiria, all others registered fewer closures.
