The regular D&B business start-up monitor has been published showing that for each company that has closed in the past year, 2.2 have opened for business.
Business insolvencies have fallen by 22% but the brisk start-up rate, with property companies leading the way, shows a positive picture for certain sectors.
In the first eight months of 2016 there have been 25,498 new businesses created in Portugal. This is a decrease of 3.7% over the same period in 2015 but closures have dropped by 1% and those applying for insolvency falling by a full 22%.
Real estate company start-ups had the highest growth with 1,901 companies set up in the first eight months of the year, an increase of 32.9% over the same period in 2015.
This sector, together with accommodation & catering (+3.1%) and construction (+1.5%) are the only ones growing with all other areas of activity showing negative growth.
One of the enduring problems that forces many companies to close down is the late payment of bills by suppliers.
"After slight improvement during the first seven months of 2016 marred by a poor August figure, late payment by Portuguese companies increased by an average of 27 days," read the report.
