Agriculture, Industry and Commerce have lost more than 25,000 companies since the pandemic

Since April 2023, turnover continues to decline, with notable differences between sectors. The financing conditions of companies and labor costs remain at high levels andturnover continues to fall. However, business confidence indicators improve compared to the pessimism of the end of 2023. The PMI index for the manufacturing sector is in expansionary territory for the first time in eleven months. However, the number of companies registered with Social Security in February 2024 is lower than the pre-pandemic levels of 2019, with 2,224 fewer companies. The sectors that have lost the most companies have been: Commerce (12,874), Agriculture (8,705) and Industry (4,108).

In addition, Extractive Industries, Manufacturing Industries and Transportation also have a deficit in the number of companies compared to 2019.

The only positive sectoral evolutions have been experienced in Energy Supplies (364), Water Supplies and Waste Management (148), Hospitality (319), Information and Communications (2,523), and Construction (12,114).

Since April 2023, turnover continues to decline, with notable differences between sectors. Company financing conditions and labor costs remain at high levels. However, business confidence indicators improve compared to the pessimism of the end of 2023. The PMI index for the manufacturing sector is in expansionary territory for the first time in eleven months. However, the number of companies registered with Social Security in February 2024 is lower than pre-pandemic levels.

By size, smaller companies, with 1 to 5 workers, still have not recovered pre-covid levels. By economic sectors, the number of companies registered with Social Security in Agriculture, Industry and Services is lower than pre-pandemic levels and only construction has recovered its previous position.

Turnover falls

According to the INE, in December the turnover continued its year-on-year downward trend, adding nine consecutive months of declines. Specifically, the interannual rate corrected for seasonal and calendar effects stood at -3%. Throughout 2023, the turnover was -1.9% lower than in 2022. Furthermore, the decline persists in the branches associated with the industry and, more pronounced, in energy, water and sanitation (- 30.1%). The non-financial market services sector is the only one with positive rates, although growth was more moderate compared to the previous month (4.5% in December compared to 5.3% in November). Trade continues to show negative rates (-0.6%), accumulating nine months of decline.

The Bank of Spain Survey on Business Activity (EBAE) for the first quarter of 2024 indicates a decrease in business turnover, although with marked sectoral heterogeneity. At a general level, a more unfavorable evolution is observed in investment activity during the first quarter of the year, both in comparison with the previous quarter and with companies’ expectations three months ago for this period. Political uncertainty and the increasing difficulty in finding labor continue to impact business activity.

According to the Tax Agency, the Total Sales of Large Companies, adjusted for inflation and corrected for seasonal and calendar variations, increased 1% in January compared to the same month of the previous year. This increase is based on a less pronounced decrease in exports (-1.9% compared to -5.6% in December), which offsets the slight slowdown in domestic sales (1.8% compared to 2.3% in December). December). As for the sectors, the largest falls were observed in some industrial branches, particularly in other manufacturing industries (-11.8%) and in the manufacture of transport equipment (-12.9%). On the other hand, real estate activities (10%) and Social, cultural, recreational and other services (12.7%) experienced the largest increases in sales.