“The number of .pt registrations grew 11% in 2021 compared to 2019, a period considered pre-pandemic, according to data released by .PT, the entity responsible for managing the Portuguese top-level domain .pt”, said the entity, stating that “although the growth in relation to 2020 – an atypical year with regard to the number of domain registrations – was lower (about 3.1%), in the last year, 136,921 new registrations were recorded, which represents a new annual record”.

According to the same statement, “the months of February and March were the ones that showed the highest growth compared to the previous year (14.7% and 19.4%, respectively), as well as the highest number of new registrations (12,996 and 13,797), an increase driven by lockdown, which led citizens and companies to focus on digital”.

The entity also revealed that, last year, “39,315 domains were registered via Empresa na Hora, 1,857 more than in 2020, namely through the 3em1.pt initiative” according to which “whoever creates a company, association or branch on the spot” is entitled to “a package of free services, for a period of one year, which includes a .pt domain, a tool for website development and respective email boxes”.

“The balance sheet regarding the number of .pt registrations in the last year follows the growth trend of 2020, if compared with data from the pre-pandemic period”, according to Luísa Ribeiro Lopes, chairman of the .PT Board of Directors.