The Portuguese economy underwent a process of growth and structural transformation during the twentieth century, while the last two decades conveyed a period of considerable creative destruction of firms. Indeed, following a period of rapid economic expansion in the second half of the 1990s, the deterioration of the economic situation felt since 2001 contributed to the deceleration of economic growth, which has also had an impact on firm turbulence. Using Quadros de Pessoal and the Eurostat and OECD methodology (Manual on Business Demography Statistics), this article describes employer enterprise dynamics in Portugal over 1985-2007, and discusses the main stylized facts related to firm creation, performance, and firm size distribution by region and sector.