Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
Instituto Nacional de Estatística / Statistics Portugal
1.2. Contact organisation unit
Business Statistics Unit in Economics Statistics Department
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
Av. António José de Almeida 1000-043 Lisboa
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
3 June 2025
2.2. Metadata last posted
3 June 2025
2.3. Metadata last update
3 June 2025
3.1. Data description
Quarterly business demography (QBD) comprises data on registrations and bankruptcies: Registrations - The number of entered legal units in the registration register at any time during the reference quarter Q, according to the respective administrative or legal procedure. Registrations is an early indicator to measure business intentions. This statistics are based on existing administrative data from the Directorate-General Justice Policy (DGPJ) notary offices. Bankruptcies - The number of legal units that have started the procedure of being declared bankrupt, by issuing a court declaration, at any time during the reference quarter Q (which is often provisional and does not always mean cessation of an activity). Bankruptcies is an early indicator to measure situation in business environment. This statistics are based on existing administrative data from the courts.
3.2. Classification system
NACE Rev.2
3.3. Coverage - sector
Data covers companies classified on NACE Rev. 2 sections B to S (except section O and activities from S94 division).
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
Registration - The number of entered legal units in the registration register at any time during the reference quarter, according to the respective administrative or legal procedure. It refers to the moment of the legal creation of the unit, reflects the unit creation regardless of the moment when the activity starts. The methodology applied does not differs from the common methodology on the EBS regulation. Bankruptcy - To the 4th quarter of 2021, the data on Bankruptcies sent by Statistics Portugal, corresponded to the number of dissolutions due to bankruptcy, based on information from the Directorate-General for Justice Policy (DGPJ) notary offices. This information was considered a "proxy" to Bankruptcy procedures. It refered to the legal dissolution of the unit and reflected the moment of legal dissolution of the company regardless of the moment of the end of the activity. From May 2022, due to the collaboration between Statistics Portugal and DGPJ, Statistics Portugal will be able to submit data on bankruptcies as defined on the EBS regulation. This new information corresponds to the number of legal units that have initiated the bankruptcy process in the reference quarter, by issuing a court declaration, regardless of whether this has given rise to a dissolution by bankruptcy.
3.5. Statistical unit
Legal unit
3.6. Statistical population
Sole proprietors are not included in the statistics on registrations and bankruptcy declarations.
3.7. Reference area
The Quarterly business demography statistics comprise all territory of Portugal.
3.8. Coverage - Time
2015-Q1 to 2024-Q4
3.9. Base period
Not applicable
The unit of measure is "pure number" of registrations and declarations of bankruptcies.
Registrations and declarations of bankruptcies refer to one quarter.
In October 2022, Statistics Portugal sent monthly data, from January 2015 to June 2022, on registrations and bankruptcies.
Regarding registrations, since then, data have been sent montlhy. For bankruptcies, for now, Statistics Portugal is sending the monthly data on a quarterly basis, simultaneously with the quarterly data.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
EBS Regulation N° 2019/2152, Table 1 of the Commission implementing regulation N° 2020/1197.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Data (pure numbers) are sent to Eurostat.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Quarterly registrations and declarations of bankruptcies data is not under confidenciality policy.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Not applicable
8.1. Release calendar
Registrations - Monthly releases.
Bankruptcies - Quarterly releases.
8.2. Release calendar access
Access to the release calendar is granted through the following website.
8.3. Release policy - user access
Statistics Portugal provides information on QBD, which is not available in the published on-line databases, to everyone with a specific request.
Currently nacional releases are in a monthly basis (for Registrations), and in a quarterly basis (for Bankruptcies).
The same to Eurostat.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
Not applicable
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
Monthly registrations data is available on Monthly Statistical Bulletin, which is released every month.
Link to December 2024 publication: Monthly registrations data is available on Monthly Statistical Bulletin, which is released every month.
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
Monthly, 30 days after de reference period. (for Registrations)
Quarterly, 40 days after de reference period. (for Bankruptcies)
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
Not applicable
10.5. Dissemination format - other
QBD data (absolute values) are transmitted to Eurostat within 40 days after the reference period. The transmission is done by eDAMIS using the SDMX format.
MBD data (absolute values) are transmitted to Eurostat within 40 days after the reference period (for Registrations), and quarterly, within 40 days after the reference period (for Bankruptcies). The transmission is done by eDAMIS using the SDMX format.
INE is part of the European Statistical System (ESS) and has adopted the European Statistics Code of Practice – the Code – as firm guidance for the success of its mission. Since its last revision (november 2017), the Code comprises the Quality Declaration of the European Statistical System, 16 Principles and 84 indicators of best practices and standards for each of the Principles, defining the European benchmarks for the statistical activity, covering the institutional environment, statistical processes and statistical outputs.
QBD data published at national level is different from the data sent to Eurostat. We provide information at geographic level and a more detail in what concerns to economic activity. However the data for the same variables are the same.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Statistics Portugal keeps track of the number of hits to on-line QBD data. During 2024 there were 6395 hits to the indicators.
12.3. Completeness
The degree of completeness of the QBD data is 100%. All QBD data has been sent on time.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Since we use administrative sources we consider that we may have a (very) small bias due to some delays in the registration of bankruptcy data by the courts.
13.2. Sampling error
As quarterly business demography indicators are "event based" statistics based on complete enumeration, sampling error is not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
As for other administrative event based data, the registration delays might be a source of errors, in particular for declarations of bankruptcies. For example, there might be a delay longer than 40 days for registering a declaration of bankruptcy for the reference quarter ("data collection and access error").For now, we still have no way of accounting for possible delays in filing bankruptcy by the courts. If from now on we record a significant amount of these delays, we will assess the need to resend the information.
14.1. Timeliness
Q+40 days
14.2. Punctuality
All data was sent within the regulation deadline.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Sole proprietors are not included in the statistics on registrations and declarations of bankruptcies.
15.2. Comparability - over time
Registrations series is comparable over time. Regarding Bankruptcies, within the scope of the EBS regulation the information sent up to the 4th quarter of 2021, by Statistics Portugal, corresponded to the number of dissolutions due to bankruptcy, based on information from the Directorate-General for Justice Policy (DGPJ) notary offices, and always referring to the fact that this information is a “proxy”.From May 2022, due to the collaboration between Statistics Portugal and DGPJ, and after analysing the data coming from the courts, Statistics Portugal made the variable “Bankruptcy” available on a quarterly basis, based on information from the DGPJ courts and not using, to date, information from notary offices. This new information corresponds to the number of legal units that have initiated the bankruptcy process, by issuing a court declaration, regardless of whether this has given rise to a dissolution by bankruptcy.Therefore, in May 2022, we sent not only data from the 1st quarter of 2022, but also all data from the 1st quarter of 2015 to the 4th quarter of 2021, so that the indices for publication by Eurostat could be calculated.If Eurostat decides to use the data from 2015-Q1 to 2021-Q4 now submitted, there will be no break in bankruptcies series. Otherwise there will be a break in the series from 2022-Q1.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Quarterly business demography is different from annual statistics on births and deaths of enterprises. Registrations cannot be directly compared with the birth of an enterprise. Registrations of businesses are part of administrative procedures, while annual data on enterprise births are based on the start-up of business activity in terms of having turnover, employment or investment. The registration of a legal unit can be considered as a declaration of intent but does not necessarily mean it follows business activity in line with annual business demography concept. Registration data are not based on the enterprise demography characteristics 'date of commencement of activities' but rather on the 'date of registration' that is not necessarily equal to 'date of commencement of activities'. Due to the methodological differences, there is no direct comparability to annual business demography statistics on births of enterprises. Quarterly bankruptcies are frequently different from annual business demography statistics on deaths of enterprises, because they cover deaths of enterprises due to bankruptcies as well as other enterprises which ended their activity for other reasons. Bankruptcies that were filed do not necessarily mean closing of the business. Even if an enterprise has declared for bankruptcy, it does not always mean that it ceases all activity when it enters into bankruptcy procedure. In order to be recorded as enterprise death in annual business demography typically all production factors have been dissolved / terminated. To conclude, the scope and contents of annual business demography statistics on deaths of enterprises differ considerably from quarterly data on bankruptcies, the levels of these two statistics may therefore vary considerably. In general, bankruptcies represent only a fraction of all enterprise deaths. They cannot be directly compared with annual business demography data on deaths of enterprises.
15.4. Coherence - internal
The aggregates are always consistent with their main sub-aggregates.
As QBD data are based on administrative sources, there is normally no extra burden to businesses. The data are made available by the Directorate-General for Justice Policy (DGPJ) to Statistics Portugal, which in turn limits them to the scope of the regulation and sends it in SDMX format.
17.1. Data revision - policy
For the time being, Statistics Portugal has not considered it necessary to develop a data review policy on companies registrations and bankruptcies.
17.2. Data revision - practice
Not applicable
18.1. Source data
Registrations data is based on information from the Directorate-General for Justice Policy (DGPJ) notary offices. Regarding the “Bankruptcy” variable, the information sent up to the 4th quarter of 2021, by Statistics Portugal, corresponded to the number of dissolutions due to bankruptcy, based on information from the Directorate-General for Justice Policy (DGPJ) notary offices, and always referring to the fact that this information is a “proxy” From May 2022, due to the collaboration between Statistics Portugal and DGPJ, and after analysing the data coming from the courts, Statistics Portugal made the variable “Bankruptcy” available on a quarterly basis, based on information from the DGPJ courts and not using, to date, information from notary offices. This new information corresponds to the number of legal units that have initiated the bankruptcy process, by issuing a court declaration, regardless of whether this has given rise to a dissolution by bankruptcy. Therefore, in May 2022, we sent not only data from the 1st quarter of 2022, but also all data from the 1st quarter of 2015 to the 4th quarter of 2021, so that the indices for publication by Eurostat could be calculated.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
The data extraction takes place 35 days after the reference period, once a quarter.
18.3. Data collection
Statistics Portugal has access to an extraction from a data base.
18.4. Data validation
The calculations of the data to be sent to Eurostat are carried out and confirmed.
18.5. Data compilation
Statistics Portugal restricts the data to the scope of the regulation and makes the calculations in the requested aggregates.
18.6. Adjustment
Statistics Portugal does not publish adjusted data.
No comments.
Quarterly business demography (QBD) comprises data on registrations and bankruptcies: Registrations - The number of entered legal units in the registration register at any time during the reference quarter Q, according to the respective administrative or legal procedure. Registrations is an early indicator to measure business intentions. This statistics are based on existing administrative data from the Directorate-General Justice Policy (DGPJ) notary offices. Bankruptcies - The number of legal units that have started the procedure of being declared bankrupt, by issuing a court declaration, at any time during the reference quarter Q (which is often provisional and does not always mean cessation of an activity). Bankruptcies is an early indicator to measure situation in business environment. This statistics are based on existing administrative data from the courts.
3 June 2025
Registration - The number of entered legal units in the registration register at any time during the reference quarter, according to the respective administrative or legal procedure. It refers to the moment of the legal creation of the unit, reflects the unit creation regardless of the moment when the activity starts. The methodology applied does not differs from the common methodology on the EBS regulation. Bankruptcy - To the 4th quarter of 2021, the data on Bankruptcies sent by Statistics Portugal, corresponded to the number of dissolutions due to bankruptcy, based on information from the Directorate-General for Justice Policy (DGPJ) notary offices. This information was considered a "proxy" to Bankruptcy procedures. It refered to the legal dissolution of the unit and reflected the moment of legal dissolution of the company regardless of the moment of the end of the activity. From May 2022, due to the collaboration between Statistics Portugal and DGPJ, Statistics Portugal will be able to submit data on bankruptcies as defined on the EBS regulation. This new information corresponds to the number of legal units that have initiated the bankruptcy process in the reference quarter, by issuing a court declaration, regardless of whether this has given rise to a dissolution by bankruptcy.
Legal unit
Sole proprietors are not included in the statistics on registrations and bankruptcy declarations.
The Quarterly business demography statistics comprise all territory of Portugal.
Registrations and declarations of bankruptcies refer to one quarter.
In October 2022, Statistics Portugal sent monthly data, from January 2015 to June 2022, on registrations and bankruptcies.
Regarding registrations, since then, data have been sent montlhy. For bankruptcies, for now, Statistics Portugal is sending the monthly data on a quarterly basis, simultaneously with the quarterly data.
Since we use administrative sources we consider that we may have a (very) small bias due to some delays in the registration of bankruptcy data by the courts.
The unit of measure is "pure number" of registrations and declarations of bankruptcies.
Statistics Portugal restricts the data to the scope of the regulation and makes the calculations in the requested aggregates.
Registrations data is based on information from the Directorate-General for Justice Policy (DGPJ) notary offices. Regarding the “Bankruptcy” variable, the information sent up to the 4th quarter of 2021, by Statistics Portugal, corresponded to the number of dissolutions due to bankruptcy, based on information from the Directorate-General for Justice Policy (DGPJ) notary offices, and always referring to the fact that this information is a “proxy” From May 2022, due to the collaboration between Statistics Portugal and DGPJ, and after analysing the data coming from the courts, Statistics Portugal made the variable “Bankruptcy” available on a quarterly basis, based on information from the DGPJ courts and not using, to date, information from notary offices. This new information corresponds to the number of legal units that have initiated the bankruptcy process, by issuing a court declaration, regardless of whether this has given rise to a dissolution by bankruptcy. Therefore, in May 2022, we sent not only data from the 1st quarter of 2022, but also all data from the 1st quarter of 2015 to the 4th quarter of 2021, so that the indices for publication by Eurostat could be calculated.
Currently nacional releases are in a monthly basis (for Registrations), and in a quarterly basis (for Bankruptcies).
The same to Eurostat.
Q+40 days
Sole proprietors are not included in the statistics on registrations and declarations of bankruptcies.
Registrations series is comparable over time. Regarding Bankruptcies, within the scope of the EBS regulation the information sent up to the 4th quarter of 2021, by Statistics Portugal, corresponded to the number of dissolutions due to bankruptcy, based on information from the Directorate-General for Justice Policy (DGPJ) notary offices, and always referring to the fact that this information is a “proxy”.From May 2022, due to the collaboration between Statistics Portugal and DGPJ, and after analysing the data coming from the courts, Statistics Portugal made the variable “Bankruptcy” available on a quarterly basis, based on information from the DGPJ courts and not using, to date, information from notary offices. This new information corresponds to the number of legal units that have initiated the bankruptcy process, by issuing a court declaration, regardless of whether this has given rise to a dissolution by bankruptcy.Therefore, in May 2022, we sent not only data from the 1st quarter of 2022, but also all data from the 1st quarter of 2015 to the 4th quarter of 2021, so that the indices for publication by Eurostat could be calculated.If Eurostat decides to use the data from 2015-Q1 to 2021-Q4 now submitted, there will be no break in bankruptcies series. Otherwise there will be a break in the series from 2022-Q1.
