Pandemic closes 39.4% of companies paralyzed, says IBGE

The covid-19 pandemic caused 39.4% of the 1.3 million companies that had temporarily or permanently suspended their operations to close in the first half of June. In total, there were 522,700 deals ended in the period. The data are from the Pulse Company Survey: Impact of Covid-19 on Companies, which are part of the Experimental Statistics of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). Among those that were closed by the pandemic, 518.4 thousand (99.2%) were small (had up to 49 employees), 4.1 thousand (0.8%) (from 50 to 499 employees) and 110 large (more than 500 employees). Still among the companies with activities closed due to the pandemic, 258.5 thousand (49.5%) of them were from the Services sector, 192.0 thousand (36.7%) trade, 38.4 thousand (7.4%) construction and 33.7 thousand (6.4%) industry. In the first half of June, the country had about 4.0 million companies, of which 2.7 million (67.4%) in total or partial operation, 610.3 thousand (15.0%) temporarily closed and 716.4 thousand (17.6%) permanently closed. Among those who definitively ended their activities, regardless of the reason, 715.1 thousand or 99.8% were small, 1.2 thousand (0.2%) were intermediaries and none were large. Among the sectors, the Services had the highest proportion of companies permanently closed, 46.7% or 334.3 thousand, followed by Commerce (36.5% or 261.6 thousand), Construction (9.6% or 68.7 thousand) and Industry (7.2% or 51.7 thousand).