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BRASILIA — A record 3.4 million new businesses were opened in Brazil last year, the Economy Ministry said on Tuesday, taking the number of enterprises in Latin America’s largest economy above 20 million for the first time.
Just over 1 million businesses closed in 2020, a year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, but that was still down 11.3% on the year before, the ministry said.
The average time taken to start a new business also fell by more than half to two days and 13 hours, from five days and nine hours, the ministry said. Some 45% of new businesses are started within a day, it added.
Brazil’s economy managed to create a net 142,690 new formal jobs last year, with a strong recovery in the second half of the year more than making up for the plunge in formal employment in the months immediately after the onset of the pandemic.
While the official unemployment rate has eased from its record high 14.6% in the three months to September, however, it remains above 14%. Millions of low-paid and informal workers have lost their jobs or have left the workforce altogether.
The number of new businesses opened last year was up 6% on 2019, the ministry said. (Reporting by Jamie McGeever Editing by Mark Heinrich)
