Data / Rankings / Active enterprises / NUTS 3 areas of Portugal

NUTS 3 areas of Portugal by active enterprises

Grande Lisboa had the highest active enterprises of 26 areas in 2022, at 333,104. Alto Tâmega e Barroso had the lowest, at 8,601. The median was 27,150 and the figure for Portugal was 1.33 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest333,104Grande Lisboa
Lowest8,601Alto Tâmega e Barroso
Median27,15026 areas
Portugal1,329,175History

All areas, 2022

Grande Lisboa: 333,104 countGrande Lisboa333,104Área Metropolitana do Porto: 236,017 countÁrea Metropolitana do Porto236,017Península de Setúbal: 90,899 countPenínsula de Setúbal90,899Algarve: 81,053 countAlgarve81,053Região de Coimbra: 53,364 countRegião de Coimbra53,364Cávado: 52,456 countCávado52,456Oeste: 45,262 countOeste45,262Ave: 45,072 countAve45,072Região de Aveiro: 44,539 countRegião de Aveiro44,539Tâmega e Sousa: 40,459 countTâmega e Sousa40,459Região de Leiria: 38,534 countRegião de Leiria38,534Alto Minho: 27,699 countAlto Minho27,699Região Autónoma da Madeira: 27,579 countRegião Autónoma da Madeira27,579Viseu Dão Lafões: 26,721 countViseu Dão Lafões26,721Lezíria do Tejo: 23,361 countLezíria do Tejo23,361Região Autónoma dos Açores: 23,276 countRegião Autónoma dos Açores23,276Médio Tejo: 22,478 countMédio Tejo22,478Beiras e Serra da Estrela: 21,035 countBeiras e Serra da Estrela21,035Douro: 17,883 countDouro17,883Alentejo Central: 16,825 countAlentejo Central16,825Terras de Trás-os-Montes: 11,479 countTerras de Trás-os-Montes11,479Baixo Alentejo: 11,142 countBaixo Alentejo11,142Alentejo Litoral: 10,421 countAlentejo Litoral10,421Beira Baixa: 9,979 countBeira Baixa9,979Alto Alentejo: 9,937 countAlto Alentejo9,937Alto Tâmega e Barroso: 8,601 countAlto Tâmega e Barroso8,601Grande Lisboa: 333,104 countGrande Lisboa333,104Área Metropolitana do Porto: 236,017 countÁrea Metropolitana do Porto236,017Península de Setúbal: 90,899 countPenínsula de Setúbal90,899Algarve: 81,053 countAlgarve81,053Região de Coimbra: 53,364 countRegião de Coimbra53,364Cávado: 52,456 countCávado52,456Oeste: 45,262 countOeste45,262Ave: 45,072 countAve45,072Região de Aveiro: 44,539 countRegião de Aveiro44,539Tâmega e Sousa: 40,459 countTâmega e Sousa40,459Região de Leiria: 38,534 countRegião de Leiria38,534Alto Minho: 27,699 countAlto Minho27,699Região Autónoma da Madeira: 27,579 countRegião Autónoma da Madeira27,579Viseu Dão Lafões: 26,721 countViseu Dão Lafões26,721Lezíria do Tejo: 23,361 countLezíria do Tejo23,361Região Autónoma dos Açores: 23,276 countRegião Autónoma dos Açores23,276Médio Tejo: 22,478 countMédio Tejo22,478Beiras e Serra da Estrela: 21,035 countBeiras e Serra da Estrela21,035Douro: 17,883 countDouro17,883Alentejo Central: 16,825 countAlentejo Central16,825Terras de Trás-os-Montes: 11,479 countTerras de Trás-os-Montes11,479Baixo Alentejo: 11,142 countBaixo Alentejo11,142Alentejo Litoral: 10,421 countAlentejo Litoral10,421Beira Baixa: 9,979 countBeira Baixa9,979Alto Alentejo: 9,937 countAlto Alentejo9,937Alto Tâmega e Barroso: 8,601 countAlto Tâmega e Barroso8,601
count. Source: Eurostat, Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankAreas2022
count		Change on 2021
1Grande Lisboa333,104+9.1%
2Área Metropolitana do Porto236,017+8.6%
3Península de Setúbal90,899+10.1%
4Algarve81,053+14.3%
5Região de Coimbra53,364+5%
6Cávado52,456+6.7%
7Oeste45,262+7.8%
8Ave45,072+5.2%
9Região de Aveiro44,539+6%
10Tâmega e Sousa40,459+4.8%
11Região de Leiria38,534+6.4%
12Alto Minho27,699+5.8%
13Região Autónoma da Madeira27,579+9%
14Viseu Dão Lafões26,721+5.5%
15Lezíria do Tejo23,361+6.7%
16Região Autónoma dos Açores23,276+6.5%
17Médio Tejo22,478+5%
18Beiras e Serra da Estrela21,035+4.1%
19Douro17,883+4%
20Alentejo Central16,825+4.2%
21Terras de Trás-os-Montes11,479+4%
22Baixo Alentejo11,142+4.7%
23Alentejo Litoral10,421+8.8%
24Beira Baixa9,979+4.9%
25Alto Alentejo9,937+4.2%
26Alto Tâmega e Barroso8,601+3.9%

Other periods

About this ranking

Enterprises that had turnover or employment at any time during the year, with or without employees.

Counts enterprises, which can run several local units, under the harmonised Eurostat and OECD business demography rules. Not the same as active_companies (the INE business register count for Spain) or employer_firms (US firms with employees). For the UK it counts every enterprise active at some point in the year, so it differs from registered_enterprises_total (UK Business Counts), a snapshot of the register in March.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the areas are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Eurostat. Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Eurostat, European Commission. (2026). Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r) (NUTS 3 areas of Portugal by active enterprises, 2022) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table

MLA 9

Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r), NUTS 3 areas of Portugal by active enterprises, 2022. Eurostat, European Commission, 13 Mar. 2026, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/portugal-provinces?period=2022. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r). NUTS 3 areas of Portugal by active enterprises, 2022. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/portugal-provinces?period=2022.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r), NUTS 3 areas of Portugal by active enterprises, 2022 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/portugal-provinces?period=2022 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_nuts_3_areas_of_2022,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd\_size\_r): NUTS 3 areas of Portugal by active enterprises, 2022}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/portugal-provinces?period=2022. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd\_size\_r). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd\_size\_r/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Eurostat, European Commission
TI  - Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r): NUTS 3 areas of Portugal by active enterprises, 2022
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/03/13
PB  - Eurostat, European Commission
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/portugal-provinces?period=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/portugal-provinces?period=2022.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank NUTS 3 areas of Portugal by active enterprises using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"active_enterprises","level":"province","within":"Portugal","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=active_enterprises&level=province&within=Portugal&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which area has the highest active enterprises?

Grande Lisboa, with 333,104 in 2022, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which area has the lowest active enterprises?

Alto Tâmega e Barroso, with 8,601 in 2022.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Eurostat, European Commission, Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Active enterprises: other rankings

NUTS 3 areas of Portugal: more rankings