Ceará Sees Record-Breaking Growth in Small Businesses in 2025, Fortifying Fortaleza as an Entrepreneurial Hub
Ceará achieves a record 134,271 new small businesses in 2025, driven by service sector growth and vibrant entrepreneurship in Fortaleza's public spaces.
- • Ceará recorded 134,271 new small businesses from January to November 2025, a 27.2% increase from 2024.
- • Fortaleza contributed 45.4% of the state's new small businesses, becoming a key entrepreneurial hub.
- • Services sector leads with 63.4% of new formalizations, followed by commerce and industry.
- • Public spaces in Fortaleza, like squares and markets, are expanding as centers for small business activities.
Key details
Ceará has experienced a historic surge in the formation of small businesses in 2025, with 134,271 new enterprises formalized from January through November. This remarkable figure marks a 27.2% increase compared to 2024, making Ceará the second-fastest growing state in Brazil for new businesses after Amazonas. The data, provided by local and national business agencies, also reveal that microentrepreneurs (MEI) comprise 68.8% of these new businesses, with microcompanies (ME) and small companies (EPP) making up 26.3% and 4.85%, respectively.
The services sector dominates this growth, accounting for 63.4% of all new formalizations, followed by commerce at 24.9%, industry at 7%, construction at 4.3%, and agriculture at a smaller 0.4%. Fortaleza, the state's capital, emerges as a central hotspot by contributing 45.4% of the total new small businesses in Ceará. Joaquim Cartaxo, superintendent of the Service of Support to Micro and Small Enterprises of Ceará (Sebrae/CE), attributes this impressive growth to favorable economic conditions coupled with strong public policies fostering entrepreneurship, which have collectively spurred job creation and income generation across the region.
In parallel with these statistics, entrepreneurial activity is visibly expanding in Fortaleza's public spaces, such as squares, boardwalks, and markets, which are increasingly recognized as key hubs for small business development. Pedro Silva, a Sebrae/CE articulator, highlights the rapid market expansion within these public venues, underscoring how the creativity of small entrepreneurs is transforming these locations into vibrant economic zones and sources of income.
Nationally, Brazil experienced its best year on record for new small businesses, opening 4.6 million from January to November 2025, a 19% rise from the previous year, with microentrepreneurs representing 77% of this growth.
The combination of Ceará's record formalizations and Fortaleza's dynamic public entrepreneurship underscores a robust environment for small business growth in 2025, signaling strong economic vitality in the state going forward.
This article was synthesized and translated from native language sources to provide English-speaking readers with local perspectives.
