News Releases

Registered Business Units: 2023  

NR080/2024
Release Date: 06 May 2024
Cut-off Date: 15 April 2024

shutterstock_308142233
  • In 2023, registered business units increased by 2.4 per cent or 3,334 registered units, when compared to 2022.
  • In 2023, micro registered units (employing between 0 and nine employees) amounted to 136,881, an increase of 2.5 per cent over 2022.
  • In 2023, businesses in Professional, scientific and technical (M); Wholesale and retail trade (G); and Financial and insurance (K) activities covered 39.1 per cent of the total registered units.
  • In 2023, 57.0 per cent of registered business units were sole owners (or partnerships) while 39.3 per cent were limited liability companies (or Plc).

Registered Business Units: 2023

Registered Business Units: 2023

NR080/2024
Release Date: 06 May 2024
Cut-off Date: 15 April 2024

In 2023, registered business units within the statistical business register amounted to 140,540, an increase of 2.4 per cent, or 3,334 registered units, over 2022.
shutterstock_308142233

Registered units in Professional, scientific and technical activities (Section M) accounted for 13.6 per cent of the total registered units in 2023; Wholesale and retail trade (Section G) accounted for 13.4 per cent; Financial and insurance activities (Section K) accounted for 12.2 per cent; and Administrative and support service activities (Section N) accounted for 7.9 per cent (Table 1).

Most of the business units (97.4 per cent) employed between 0 to nine persons (micro). The population of small (10 – 49) and medium (50 – 249) businesses accounted for 2,899 (2.1 per cent) and 608 (0.4 per cent) units respectively. The large businesses employing 250 and more amounted to 152 (0.1 per cent). The number of registered units employing between 0 and nine persons increased by 3,297 units, resulting in an increase of 2.5 per cent when compared with 2022. The registered units employing between 10 and 49 persons increased by 37 units, equivalent to an increase of  1.3 per cent, when compared with 2022 (Chart 1, Table 1).

Chart 1. Registered units in 2023, by employment size

In 2023, 57.0 per cent of the registered units were sole owners or partnerships, 39.3 per cent were limited liability or public limited companies (Plc), while 3.7 per cent were governmental, non-profit or other types of legal organisations (Chart 2, Table 2).

New registrations in 2023 amounted to 10,016 units, whilst deregistrations amounted to 9,763 units. (Chart 3, Table 3).

Chart 2. Registered business units by type of legal organisation

No Data Found

Drag to view in full

Chart 3. Newly registered and deregistered business units

No Data Found

Drag to view in full

Methodological Notes

1. The statistical business register is the source of the data in this news release. The statistical business register provides one of the most detailed local business profiles in Malta.

2. Business registrations are based on administrative data. Registrations and/or deregistrations do not precisely record the commencement or cessation of an activity by a unit. Demographic events such as takeovers, mergers and split-offs are not catered for and may affect the data presented.

3. The data is classified by economic activity according to the NACE (Nomenclature Statistique des Activités Économiques dans la Communauté Européenne) classification of economic activities in the European Union.

4. Other types of legal structures may include public corporations, cooperatives and joint ventures.

5. Micro enterprises include non-trading units.

6. Updates in the statistical business register are ongoing and all figures reported are subject to revision.

7. The registered business units include those that were registered for at least one day during the reporting period. Business units that have ceased operating as indicated in Table 3, are included in the registered business units in Tables 1 and 2, if they were registered for at least one day during the year of deregistration.

8. The significant increase in the number of deregistrations in 2020 when compared to 2019 may be partly attributed to the defunct companies that had been struck off the Malta Business Registry during the reporting period.

9. More information relating to this news release may be accessed at:

Statistical Concepts
Classifications

10. References to this news release are to be cited appropriately.

11. A detailed news release calendar is available online.

Definitions

The following are the definitions of the employment size class breakdowns shown in Table 1.

Size class Persons employed
Micro 0-9
Small 10-49
Medium 50-249
Large 250+

The following are the definitions of the legal forms:

Sole ownership is defined as enterprises owned exclusively by one natural person.

Partnership is defined as an association of persons who conduct a business under a collective name.

Limited liability companies refer to enterprises comprising joint-stock companies and private limited companies.

Government units are legal entities established by political processes that have legislative, judicial or executive authority over institutional units within a given area. These include government ministries and departments.

Non-profit organisations are legal or social entities acting for the purpose of producing goods and services whose status does not permit them to be a source of income, profit or other financial gains for the units that establish, control or finance them.

Public corporations are all the government-controlled units that are often established by government as market producers principally engaged in the production of goods, non-financial and financial services, and as such they are classified in non-financial and financial sectors.

Cooperatives are bodies set down by law that observe a number of general principles; for example profits are often distributed in proportion to members’ dealings with the society. 

Inflation Calculator News releases calendar Request for Information NACE Code queries
Skip to content