Main Indicators

Economic
 

The number of companies created in V. N. Gaia before 2003 evolved in such a way as to show a high capacity for initiative on the part of the municipality’s business structure, especially in the last four years – responsible for 30% of the existing companies. 2001 and 2003 were the years with the highest number of new companies, accounting for around 73% of the companies formed in the last four years.
 

Business activity in V. N. Gaia is quite diverse, seeing that 45% of the companies are spread over 41 types of activity, according to the Portuguese Classification of Economic Activities. The remaining 55% are concentrated mainly in the following activities: ‘Construction’ (16%), ‘Trade’ (30%) and ‘Hotel and Catering’ (8%).
 

The municipality has a large tertiary sector given that 66% of the companies belong to the sectors of Trade and Services, while only 17% belong to Industry. The latter sector is not particularly diverse, and is predominated by the so-called traditional industries such as the Manufacture of Metal Products (18%), Furniture Production (15%) and the Food and Drink Industry (12%). As for Agriculture and Fishing, it has an insignificant bearing on the total number of activities based in the municipality (1%).

The companies established in the municipality are generally small: 72% employ fewer than 250 workers, of which around 80% have fewer than 10 people in their service. Only 1% of the companies in the municipality employ over 250 workers.

Demographic
 

Approximately 19% of the resident population of the GAMP lives in Vila Nova de Gaia, which is the municipality with the highest population in this metropolitan area: 300,000 inhabitants. This population mass represents around 8% of the population resident in the North Region, and around 3% of the country’s total population.
 

The municipality of Vila Nova de Gaia recorded an average increase of 16% compared to the evolutionary framework of the GAMP.
 

In contrast to the rest of the country and Europe, the demographic trend in V. N. de Gaia is that of a young population, at an active age. This is also a result of the great investment made in new construction over the last decade, and the consequent increase in the number of houses. It should also be said that the municipality’s housing market is relatively recent (over half of the existing buildings are under 30 years old).