Over 560,000 business licences issued in the UAE in 2019
The number of business licences issued in the UAE amounted to 560,158 since the start of 2019, an increase of 3.7 percent, or 19,800 licences, compared to the end of 2018. The growth in the number of new licences reflects the improvement of various sectors since the start of the year, due to increased government spending.
According to the Ministry of Economy, 394,083 licences were issued in Dubai and Abu Dhabi from the start of the year to the middle of May, accounting for 70.3 percent of the national total. The total number of licences registered in Dubai amounted to 262,519 during the same period, an increase of 3.5 percent compared to December 2018 while the number of licences issued in Abu Dhabi amounted to 131,564, an increase of 4.3 percent.
Limited liability companies occupied the first position with 178,289 licences while individual companies accounted for 76,686 , followed by single-member limited liability companies with 3,373. The number of licences issued to branches of foreign companies reached 2,149 while Gulf companies accounted for 846.
In Abu Dhabi, the number of licences issued to individual companies amounted to 83,593 while limited liability companies accounted for 26,879, and the branches of companies for 17,706.
The remaining licences were issued in Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, Ajman and Umm Al Qaiwain.
