New company registrations in positive territory in 2018

New companies created in 2018 outnumbered those in the previous year and shutdowns were also far fewer last year than they were in 2017, data from the General Commercial Register (GEMH) show.

There were 33,267 new corporations set up in 2018, against 31,911 the year before that, representing an increase of 4.2 percent year-on-year. The number of enterprises that were struck off the register came to 18,723, down from 25,811 in 2017, a considerable drop of 27.4 percent.

However, analysts warn that the large number of businesses launched last year was not the result of improved financial conditions and sentiment, but were mainly opened out of necessity or in a bid by self-employed professionals to reduce their tax burden.