Pakistan Registers 5,003 New Companies in October

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan registered 5,003 new companies in October 2026, taking the country’s total registered companies to 321,794, as almost all new businesses completed incorporation through the online registration system.

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), the country’s corporate regulator, said on Thursday that 99.9 per cent of new companies were registered online through its eZfile portal, which is integrated with federal and provincial government systems.

Private limited companies accounted for the largest share of registrations, with 2,773 incorporations, representing 55.4 per cent of the total. Single-member companies followed with 2,079 registrations, or 41.6 per cent.

The remaining registrations included 105 limited liability partnerships (2.1 per cent), 39 not-for-profit companies licensed under Section 42 of the Companies Act (0.8 percent), and seven other entities.

These seven entities comprised four public companies, two foreign companies and one trade organisation.

Information technology leads sectoral registrations

The information technology sector recorded the largest ever number of new incorporations, with 991 companies, highlighting the sector’s growing presence in Pakistan’s formal business landscape.

Trading businesses ranked second with 767 registrations, followed by services with 594 and construction with 295.

Other sectors included food and beverages with 219 companies, tourism with 213, real estate development and e-commerce with 170 each, education with 152 and textiles with 113.

Another 1,319 companies were registered across various other sectors.

Punjab accounts for more than half of new companies

Punjab remained the leading destination for new business registrations, accounting for 2,663 companies, or 53.2 per cent of the national total.

Islamabad Capital Territory recorded 934 incorporations (18.7 per cent), followed by Sindh with 751 (15 per cent) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 382 (7.7 per cent).

Gilgit-Baltistan registered 162 new companies, or 3.2 per cent, while Balochistan accounted for 111, or 2.2 per cent.

Chinese investors dominate foreign participation

Foreign investor participation was recorded in the newly incorporated companies, with 173 investors from different countries.

Chinese investors accounted for 129, representing nearly three-quarters of the foreign participation. Germany followed with six investors, the United States with five and the United Kingdom with three.

Turkey, Canada, Brazil, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and the Netherlands each contributed two investors, while another 14 investors came from other countries.

Of the 173 foreign investors, five were foreign corporate entities, and 168 were individual investors.

Female representation remains limited

Gender-related data covering shareholders, ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs), directors and chief executives showed that men continued to account for the majority across all four categories.

Women represented 13 per cent of shareholders and directors, 11 per cent of ultimate beneficial owners and 8 per cent of chief executives.

The figures indicate that female participation was relatively higher in company ownership and board representation than in executive leadership positions.