Company business turnover up 4.6% in 2023

Portugal’s trading sector enjoyed an uptick in growth by 4.6% in 2023 according to data just out from the National Statistics Institute.

The turnover of trading companies totalled €194.8Bn in 2023, an increase of 4.6% when compared to the previous year, when the turnover of companies reached 17.9%.

According to the report, these figures were achieved thanks to the 217.4 thousand companies that make up the sector and the 842.4 thousand workers who work in it (2% more compared to 2022) and whose salaries reached €12.9Bn in nominal terms, an increase of 11.4%.

The INE indicates that trading companies represented 14.4% of the total non-financial companies, accounting for 35.4% of the total turnover of these companies.

In the document, the statistics office reveals that in 2023, gross value added (GVA) stood at €26.5Bn ( 8.6% compared to 2022) and that the global trade margin rose 6% to €35.3Bn. The average commercial margin per company was €162,000.

In the year in which there was an increase in car sales, INE indicates that the automotive trade activity was mainly responsible for the growth in turnover, having registered an uptick of 17.7% in this sector, a trend that was also seen in the overall commercial margin (12.9%) and per company (10.3%). Employee numbers increased by 3.3%.

In the “motor vehicle trade” activity, the statistics office reveals that in 2023 it generated a turnover of €20.5Bn, corresponding to the largest year-on-year increase in the automotive trade sector (19.6% in 2023 after an increase of 14.4% in 2022). This activity was also the most representative of this sector (73.9%).

The “trade in parts and accessories” had the second largest contribution to the increase in turnover in the sector (13.9%).

Among the top ten products sold in this activity, the statistics office reveals that the area highlighted with the highest growth was wholesale (31.6%) and retail (26.4%) sales of light vehicles (cars and vans). In that year, the average turnover per car trading company stood at €828.6 thousand euros, 14.9% more than in the previous year.