NEARLY 800 new companies were incorporated in Northern Ireland last year – despite the challenges of political and economic uncertainty surrounding Brexit.
Some 8,173 new companies were registered in 2018 compared to 7,398 in 2017,an increase of 10.5 per cent.
It brings the total number of registered companies in Northern Ireland to 62,765, up from 58,754 at the end of 2018, which equates to a 6.8 per cent growth.
On the flip side, 4,307 companies were dissolved in the north during the year.
The statistics come from the Inform Direct Review of UK Company Formations using data from Companies House and the Office for National Statistics.
Belfast formed the most new businesses (2,074), followed by Newry, Mourne and Down (1,447) and Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon (716).
John Korchak, director of operations at company secretarial and formation specialist Inform Direct said: “These figures demonstrate strong growth for new company formations in Northern Ireland.
“It presents a hugely positive picture for business against a background of political and economic uncertainty and shows that it continues to provide a supportive environment, both for new business ventures and existing enterprises.
“This achievement is replicated in a number of counties and in the UK as a whole which has seen a new record total of registered companies.”
Across the UK as a whole, a record number of new companies were formed– 669,855 compared with 634,116 in 2017.
The number of registered companies in the UK also continued to grow, finishing the year with a total of 4,308,022.
