The year 2016 was marked by the continuation of the positive evolution of the main economic and financial indicators of the business sector. Compared to the previous year, the number of individual enterprises increased by 3.1%, and the number of companies grew by 2.3%. The variables Persons employed and Turnover increased, respectively, by 3.5% and 2.7%, in nominal terms.
In the non-financial sector, the number of enterprises increased by 2.8%, while Turnover, Gross value added and Gross operating surplus registered nominal increases of 2.7%, 6.0% and 8.4% respectively (2.7%, 5.8% and 6.9% in 2015). Regarding the sectoral contribution in the evolution of GOS, Accommodation and food services stood out with 1.6 p.p..
There were 5 553 non-financial high growth companies, which generated a GVA of EUR 10 486 million, representing 16.8% of the total (less 0.7 p.p. than in 2015).
The weight, in terms of Turnover, of companies with an exporting profile increased by 5.0 p.p. between 2008 and 2016. In the period under analysis, the average size of these companies, in terms of Turnover and Persons employed was, respectively, EUR 5 053 thousand and 29 persons, comparing to EUR 634 thousand and 6 persons in the companies without an exporting profile.