DTI records all-time high business name registrations in 2022

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 29) — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) recorded an all-time high of 932,097 business name registrations in 2022.

In a statement on Wednesday, the DTI said 827,491 (88.8%) are new registrations while 104,606 are renewals.

The DTI recorded 916,164 business name registrations in 2020 and 867,647 in 2021. The agency said the number of business name registrations in 2022 was 7.4% higher compared to 2021, and it is considered the highest annual number of registrations for the past 10 years.

“The rising number of sole proprietors registering their business names is indeed a positive sign that the Filipino entrepreneurial spirit is alive and recovering from the pandemic,” Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual said.

“We are pleased that more sole proprietors have undertaken the necessary first step of registering their businesses, starting with their business names,” he added.

Businesses registered in 2022 are mostly in retail in sari-sari stores with 180,406 processed applications, the DTI said citing data from the Philippine Standard Industrial Classification. This is followed by restaurants and mobile food services activities at 75,391.

Real estate — which includes buying, selling, renting, leasing, and operating self-owned/leased apartment buildings, non-residential, and dwellings — recorded 32,764 registrations.

“DTI wants to make business registration less complicated and seamless. As we constantly integrate technology in the improvement of our services, the Department is working closely with the Department of Information and Communications Technology to fully implement an end-to-end registration, in support of e-governance measures to achieve a more efficient public service delivery and better experience for our citizens,” Pascual said.

According to the DTI, applications registered and processed online grew from 35% to 75% based on the payment collections received after the Business Name Registration Next Generation (BNRS) online platform was launched in 2019.

The BNRS allows applicants to simply register using computers or mobile phones with an internet connection and digital payment options for fund transfers.

Aside from the online platform, 25% of registrants paid via DTI teller, the agency said.