Newly-issued commercial registrations for businesses rose 67% in 4Q 2024

The Commerce Ministry issued 160.5k new commercial registrations in 4Q 2024, up 67% y-o-y, according to the ministry’s quarterly report (pdf). Women-owned businesses accounted for 46% of the total new registrations during the quarter. Riyadh, Makkah and the Eastern Province emerged as top regions for business activity in Saudi, collectively seeing 72% of all new registrations.

Top growth sectors in 4Q: The logistics services sector recorded the highest y-o-y growth in commercial registrations in 4Q 2024, with records rising by 82% to 16.6k. App development followed with a 36% increase to 15.8k active records.

Commercial registrations for foreign companies grew 23% y-o-y to 59.3k in 2024. Meanwhile, commercial registrations for GCC companies increased 39% y-o-y to reach 21.2k by the end of last year.

The overall picture: The Kingdom now has 1.6 mn active commercial registrations, out of which 30% are owned by women and 38% held by young entrepreneurs. Overall, Riyadh is home to 533.3k active registrations, followed by Makkah (349.4k) and the Eastern Province (250.6k).