Real estate market activity: an increase in closings compared to last year.

In the first half of 2023, 27,385 new companies were created in Portugal, corresponding to an increase of 6.3% (+ 1,625 companies) compared to the same period in 2022.

In the real estate and construction industries, this growth was particularly notable, accounting for 9.5% and 11.1% of the total number of companies created, respectively. However, there were also more company closures in the real estate industry, both in the first six months of this year (+12.1%) and in the last 12 months (+9.6%).

According to the Informa D&B barometer, the real estate industry has created 2,615 new companies between January and June 2023, 8.7% less than in the same period last year (2,865 companies). The first six months of this year also saw an increase in the number of''company closures (474), up 12.1% compared to the same period of the previous year (423 companies).

The construction industry, on the other hand, stands out with an increase in the number of companies created and a decrease in the number of closures. In this segment, 3,052 companies were created between January and June, 5.4% more than in the first six months of last year (2,895 companies), while 569 companies closed, 12.7% less than in the same period of the previous year.

The transportation industry stands out among all companies created in the first half of 2023, accounting for 12% of the total number of companies created in the half-year, up 5 pct from 2022.

Among the industries that have seen a decline in the creation of new companies, special attention should be paid to''Industry is the country's main export sector.

Bank Informa D&B reports that the number of bankruptcies rose 14% in the first six months of this year, with 962 new bankruptcy proceedings (+117 compared to 2022). "In the half-year, the number of bankruptcies increased in half of the sectors, particularly notable in the construction sector, where the increase was 62% (+63 bankruptcy processes), more than half of the total increase for the half-year," notes Informa D&B.

In absolute terms, the industry remains the sector with the highest number of new bankruptcies, with an increase of 19% (+31 bankruptcy proceedings) over the''compared to the same period last year.

Company closures, which hit lows in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, have started to rise since the last two quarters of 2022. If we analyze the last 12 months, more than half of the industries have seen an increase in closures compared to the previous 12 months.

The industries with notably more company closings include real estate (+102 closings, +9.6%), information and communications technology (+84 closings, +12.4%), hospitality (+62 closings, +4.0%), and transportation (+42 closings, +6.8%).