RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In 2020, 3.3 million new companies were opened, according to a survey by SERASA Experian. The number represents a growth of 8.7% compared to 2019, and is the highest since 2011, since Serasa’s official records began to be taken.
Most of the new companies (79%) are individual microentrepreneurs, totaling the opening of 2.7 million MEIs.
“The high number of MEIs is one of the factors that proves entrepreneurship by necessity, since during almost a year of pandemic many people who lost their jobs chose to open a CNPJ [National Register of Legal Entity] and work with what they already knew how to do or in segments with low learning costs,” explains SERASA Experian economist Luiz Rabi.
Adaptation
The food industry accounted for 9.7% of all businesses opened, and was the segment with the largest number of new companies. Next comes the clothing sector, with 6.2% of the total, and repairs and maintenance, with 6.1%.
According to Rabi, this data shows an adaptation of the entrepreneurs to the reality of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The food sector offers essential products and makes it possible to open low-cost businesses.
“Now, when we talk about apparel, the second branch in the ranking of new business openings in 2020, it is clear that the production of the covid-19 protection masks impacted the index,” adds the economist.
The North Region posted the highest growth in the opening of new businesses, with 20.9% increase over 2019, with the emergence of 174,500 new ventures. In the Midwest the expansion stood at 13.3% and in the South at 11.5%.
Source: Infomoney