The economic sectors that have grown the most in Ecuador

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – 2021 is when more companies have been incorporated compared to 2020, revealed by the Superintendence of Companies, Securities, and Insurance (SCVS).

In 2020 they had a growth of 9% compared to 2019, and 10,941 companies were incorporated. But, in 2021, they have increased by 44% compared to the previous period: 15,714 companies incorporated, of which 58% have been electronically and 42% physically.

Electronic incorporations increased by 126%, and physical incorporations decreased by 4%.

As for the sectors, according to the Superintendence of Companies, there was no significant variation throughout the year.

The wholesale and retail trade sector concentrates 22% of the companies incorporated annually during 2014 to the cumulative total as of December 2021.

It is followed by the other services sector, which represents 17%. In third place are the sectors of professional, scientific, and technical activities and construction and real estate activities with a share of 13% and 12%, respectively, during the analyzed period. It is followed by the transportation and storage sector, with 11% of the total number of companies incorporated.

The natural resources sector, composed of agriculture, livestock, fishing, energy, water, petroleum, and mining, followed closely behind with 8% during the period, as did the administrative and support activities sector.

Meanwhile, according to the Superintendence of Companies, the Simplified Joint Stock Companies (SAS) have been positively received by entrepreneurs.

A total of 10,848 SAS were created, representing 69% of the incorporations in 2021.

Since May 2020, 15,160 SAS have been created. “It is expected that these measures to support MSMEs boosted the formalization of many small and micro enterprises, which with the new corporate type, SAS, saw an opportunity to maintain their operations during the critical months of the pandemic,” says the Superintendence of Companies.

Concerning the incorporations by economic sectors within the SAS corporate type, we find wholesale and retail trade with 27%, other services with 22%, professional, scientific, and technical activities with 18%, and construction with 12%.

Corporate investment

Corporate investment from 2014 until December 2021, of the total number of companies that made some legal act of investment, 17% invested through capital increases, and 83% were incorporations and domiciliations.

In the cumulative total as of December 2021, the number of companies that made some investment grew by 57% compared to the same period of the previous year.

Regarding the capital invested, 86% came from capital increases and 14% from incorporations and domiciliations. In the accumulated until December 2021, capital amounted to US$1.3 billion and decreased by 9% compared to the same period of the previous year.

While the economic sector that has received more corporate investment from January 2014 to December 2021 is the natural resources sector, followed by manufacturing industries and wholesale and retail trade.

The natural resources sector accounts for 23%, manufacturing industries 20%, and trade with 18%.

Foreign investment

Between 2014 and December 2021, 62% of the companies obtaining foreign direct investment do so through new incorporations, while the remaining 38% corresponds to existing companies making capital increases.

By 2021, the number of companies receiving foreign direct investment is 877, which amounts to US$525 million.

The natural resources sector is the one that concentrates 31% of foreign investment, followed by the manufacturing industries sector with 21% between 2014 to December 2021—followed by the wholesale and retail trade sector with 15%.