Between January and November, 312,000 m² of offices were occupied in Lisbon and Porto, a year-on-year increase of 75% compared to the 178,000 m² registered in 2021. This is an all-time record in office occupancy until November, JLL reveals in its Office Flashpoint.

Lisbon

From January to the penultimate month of the year, the capital city registered 259,200 square meters of office occupancy. JLL indicates that this is "a value never seen in this market", where 186 deals were closed with an average area of around 1,400 square meters. The occupied area reflects an 88% growth when compared to the same period the previous year, when 137,900 m² were taken.

Parque das Nações aggregated 27% of the annual occupation, reflecting a strong pre-letting activity: it was the most dynamic location in 2022, reveals the consulting firm. Financial Services companies were the most dynamic, with 35% of the area occupied in the year-to-date.

Porto

In Invicta, the annual occupation until November reached 52,700 square meters, with a total of 61 operations in an average area of about 900 m². JLL indicates that "this is an activity that shows a growth of 31% compared to the 40,300 m2 occupied in the same period of 2021.

Matosinhos and CBD-Baixa account for 35% and 33% of the annual take-up, respectively. TMT's & Utilities are the clear market leaders in the North among the most active demand sectors, generating 51% of the annual take-up.

For Sofia Tavares, Head of Office Leasing at JLL "this year was surprising for offices. Although we came out of the pandemic situation right at the beginning of the year, the international conjuncture changed drastically with the conflict in Europe and the economic conditions also worsened. This raised many fears, but the truth is that companies followed their plans to move premises, companies were created, and new international occupants continued to appear in our country. This year has also benefited from the back-to-office effect: many companies have only now stabilized their post-pandemic work model and adapted their occupation space to these new realities. This also implied an important flow of new occupations."

She adds that "2022 was really a year of very intense demand. In such a way that we reached record levels of activity and that, even so, ended up being restrained by lack of adequate supply. For 2023, we are expectant, since we not only started from a base of occupation at maximum levels, but also foresee a year of great challenges in terms of economic conditions, with an impact on consumption and the respective reflection in the activity of most of the companies that are potential occupants".

November

In November, 5,300 square meters were occupied in Lisbon and 3,200 square meters in Porto. Sofia Tavares refers that "these last months of the year have been less robust in terms of occupation, which is natural after a period with very strong activity indexes and accomplishment of large scale business, as happened in the summer. Let's see how December plays out, which is traditionally a very strong month.