In 2021, non-financial enterprises recorded nominal growth of 15.7% in turnover, 15.2% in Gross Value Added (GVA) and 27.3% in Gross Operating Surplus (GOS), after the reductions of 10.0%, 9.8% and 17.2% in 2020, respectively, thus surpassing the pre-pandemic values recorded in 2019. Persons employed and personnel expenses increased by 2.0% and 9.1%, respectively (-2.0% and -1.7% in 2020, in the same order).

With reference to the nominal GVA level of 2019, most sectors of activity recorded a higher GVA in 2021, except for Transportation and storage and Accommodation and food services.

In 2021, there were 467,243 non-financial companies in Portugal (+3.7% compared to 2020), which recorded growths of 2.5% in persons employed, 15.9% in turnover, 15.8% in GVA and 29.7% in GOS (-1.3%, -9.8%, -9.4% and -17.7% in 2020, respectively), already exceeding the 2019 values. Large companies showed higher growth in turnover and GVA (+18.4% and +17.4%, respectively), and SMEs recorded higher growth in GOS (+30.5%). The average annual remuneration reached EUR 16.1 thousand, per employee.

In 2021, there were 28.1 thousand companies with an exporting profile (+6.3% compared to 2020), corresponding to 6.0% of all non-financial companies. These companies accounted for 23.2% of persons employed, 35.3% of turnover, 33.5% of GVA and 34.4% of GOS (+0.5 p.p., +2.5 p.p., +1.8 p.p. and +3.4 p.p. compared to 2020, respectively), reaching higher levels than in 2019.