Construction and services. These are the sectors that encouraged company formation in the province of Alicante last year. The year closed with 791 signatures, bringing the total to 60,791.. In fact, given that both industry and agriculture were in decline, it was the dynamism of these two activities that enabled the upward trend to be maintained. This also explains why coastal regions, where both tourism and housing activities are concentrated, monopolize new company formation..
The Valencian Institute of Statistics (IVF) has published figures for companies registered with Social Security for the last quarter of 2023; This report shows a 1.3% increase in companies compared to the same period of the previous year. The good performance of tourism last year was undoubtedly directly related to the counting of 687 more companies in the services sector.The total number rises to 46,051. In addition, construction maintained its good dynamics despite the decline in housing sales in the second half of the year; The fact that 190 more companies participated in this activity and reached 6,966 shows this.
However, this good performance contrasts with the performance of the agricultural sector, which lost 89 companies and decreased to 1,883. Hidden behind this decline are poor harvests for most crops due to high temperatures and drought. The sector, affected by the decline in consumption in an inflationary environment, also experienced a declineIn this case, consisting of 47 companies, the balance remains at 5,891.
Regarding regional distribution, Coastal regions had the most companies added, especially 777. Thus, while l’Alacantí added 282 points to reach 15,547, Vega Baja added 241 points to reach 11,130. In Marina Alta, the total number increased by 153 to 6 thousand 950, and in Marina Baixa it increased by 101 to 7 thousand 423.
The opposite side is represented by the hinterlands with a greater presence of industry, where the creation of new firms is evidenced.He even had negative behaviors. This is the case of Medio Vinalopó, which lost 26 companies, falling to 4,788. In Baix Vinalopó, 21 people were created and the figure remained at 9,282; At El Comtat, age 13, 919; In Alto Vinalopó (7) it reached 1,577; and 4 in l’Alcoià, totaling 3,350.
Finally, emphasize that The total number of companies in the province employ 532,750 workers; This figure means an increase of 18,597 compared to 2022..
Paloma Taltavull, professor of Applied Economic Analysis at the University of Alicante (UA), associates the establishment of more companies on the coast with tourism and also with population growth. In his words, “Remote working has led to many people wanting to live in an environment like ours, which is cheaper than most of Europe and has good temperatures.. The war in Ukraine also affects this pilgrimage. And this whole population creates service needs around it, and we’re trying to respond to that with the creation of new companies.”