Invested capital in firms born in the past five months grew nearly twofold in the Valencian region, with the total number of new businesses also rising. Retail outperforms other sectors in all three provinces.
22 june 2016
With the dust still settling after the financial crisis, Valencia seems to be starting to emerge as a renewed driving force for the Spanish economy. With GDP growth easily outperforming other Spanish regions (1.2% in the last quarter and an inter-annual rise of 4.1%), a recent report by Informa D&B shows how entrepreneurship is gradually taking off in the Valencian Community.
In the first five months of 2016, 5,438 new businesses were set up in the Valencian region, 308 more than the start of 2015. This 6% rise is smaller than the national average of 12.88%, spurred by strong months in some of the smaller regions and Catalonia, where over 1,500 new firms have been created this year. However, the month of May reversed that trend, Valencia’s 12.67% rise improving a nationwide 10.05%.
It’s in the total capital invested, however, where Valencia has skyrocketed. Nearly €500 million has been invested by these new firms in 2016, up from €281 million in the first five months of 2015. This 74% increase clashes with decreasing numbers in many other regions – in particular an anomalous situation in the Basque Country – which drag the Spanish total to a 12% fall. Even Madrid, with a €155 million rise, falls short to the Valencian breakthrough. Adding onto that, in a particularly slow month of May (-26% nationwide, compared to May 2015), investments by new firms in the Valencian Community still rose by 5%.
Nearly a quarter of all business ventures started in the last five months in Spain are from the Retail sector, more than any other area.
Retail is currently for a second year running the leading sector of business creation in Spain. Nearly 11,000 new retail firms have been created since January 2016, a 30% rise. Concerning related investments, total capital went up 8% against the aforementioned -12% total drop, although the month of May was harsh on the sector with a 17% drop compared to the same month last year (although still better than the total -26% fall).
Out of the 1,058 firms born in 2016 in the Valencian region (501 Valencia, 436 Alicante, 121 Castellón), 270 are from the retail sector (119 Valencia, 112 Alicante, 39 Castellón). Only Barcelona and Madrid had more new firms of this kind than Valencia and Alicante.
On a more negative note, the number of dissolutions (last stage of liquidation/closing down) has grown this year, with 205 more in the first months of 2016 than last year. Percentage-wise, that’s the highest rise in Spain (16.36%). A 13% May-to-May rise also contrasts with a nationwide 5% drop. Construction and estate-related activities were the worst off in all three Valencian provinces.
The full report, “Estudio de Demografía Empresarial de España mayo 2016” (Report on Business Demographics in Spain, May 2016) can be downloaded and viewed here. Informa D&B is a subsidiary of CESCE, and part of the Dun & Bradstreet Worldwide Network of business information.
