Number of registered business units grows, but limited and public liability companies shrink

The total number of registered business units grew by 1.2 per cent to 136,183 in 2022, however, the number of limited liability and public limited companies dropped for the second year in a row.

The latest publication by the National Statistics Office demonstrates that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, and also the rising cost of operating businesses, the total number of registered business units has continued to climb unabated.

However, the number of limited liability companies and public liability companies has shrunk for the second year in a row. In 2020 the number stood at an all-time high of 59,953 registered business units, alas, this declined to 56,580 in 2021 and 54,255 in 2022.

This may indicate that business operators are opting for less costly business structures, such as sole ownership or partnerships, which enable a greater degree of flexibility for small operators.

The overwhelming majority of businesses (97.3 per cent) employed between zero and nine people, classifying them as micro-businesses, and while small businesses (10-49 employees) made up 2.2 per cent of registered units. The latter 0.5 per cent of firms were classified as medium (50-249 employees) and large (250+ employees).

The greatest share came from the wholesale and retail trade sector, capturing 13.8 per cent of the total number of registered business units, followed by financial and insurance activities (12.6 per cent).

New registrations in 2022 amounted to 10,293 units, while deregistrations amounted to 6,595 units. The largest share of registrations came from the activities involved in professional, scientific, and technical activities (15 per cent) followed by transportation and storage (13 per cent) and administrative and support services (9.5 per cent)

Meanwhile, the largest share of de-registrations came from activities involved in wholesale and retrial trade (14.5 per cent), and professional and scientific activities (13.4 per cent) and finance and insurance activities (12.6 per cent).