2,204 new licenses issued by Dubai DED in February 2019 marking a growth of 37% compared to February 2018

Dubai, 11 March 2019: The Business Registration and Licensing (BRL) sector of the Department of Economic Development (DED), Dubai, issued 2,204 new licenses in February 2019, a growth of 37% compared to February 2018 (1,606). The new licenses created 8,515 jobs in the labor market. Among the new licenses issued, 61.1% were commercial, 36.5% professional, 1.7% related to tourism and 0.7% industry.

The Business Map digital platform of DED, which seeks to reflect economic realities in Dubai by providing vital data on each license category including their numbers and distribution on a monthly basis, saw 25,269 business registration and licensing transactions being completed in the month of February 2019, a growth of 27% compared to February 2018 (19,885).

The report showed that License Renewal accounted for 12,018 transactions in February 2019, a growth of 52% compared to February 2018 (7,906), while 5,379 transactions were related to Auto Renewal via text messages.

During the month of February 2019, the number of Trade Name Reservations was 3,390, a growth of 20.6% compared to February 2018 (2,812), while the number of Initial Approvals reached 2,503, a growth of 21.6% compared to February 2018 (2,058), and the number of Commercial Permits reached 1,465 permit. BRL also issued 156 instant licenses. The Instant License is issued in a single step without the need for either the MOA (Memorandum of Association) or an existing location for the first year only.

The outsourced service centres of DED issued 18,241 transactions, a growth of 72.2% of the total BRL transactions issued in February 2019 (25,269), thus demonstrating their vital role in delivering value-added services to the public in Dubai.

The report also showed that the top nationalities who secured licenses in February 2019 were: India, followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Britain, China, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and France.

The report also highlighted the distribution of new licenses in February 2019 in the main areas in Dubai, with Bur Dubai accounting for the largest share (1,163), followed by Deira (1038), and Hatta (3). The top sub-regions that accounted for 57.2% of all the transactions were: Burj Khalifa (17.7%), Port Saeed (6.7%), Al Fahidi (6.3%), Al Khabaisi (5.6%), Al Garhoud (4.2%), Al Marar (3.7%), Naif (3.6%), Riggat Al Buteen (3.6%), Dubai World Trade Centre 1 (3.5%), and Al Barsha 1 (2.3%).

Trade & repair services accounted for 33.9% of the new licenses issued in February 2019 according to the distribution of economic activities, followed by real estate, leasing & business services (26.8%), building & construction (14.7%), community & personal services (10.7%), hotels group (4.4%), transport, storage & communications (3.4%), manufacturing (2.7%), financial brokerage (1.4%), health & labour (0.8%), education (0.6%), and agriculture (0.6%).