Company incorporations rebounded last year from a 25-year low recorded in 2023, recent figures show.
Altogether, 27,362 companies were formed in the Virgin Islands in 2024, up nearly 23 percent from 2023 — when the tally fell 45 incorporations short of the previous low recorded in 2020.
The numbers in the final quarter of 2024 also jumped year-on-year, according to figures released recently by the Financial Services Commission.
The tally last October, November and December hit 7,229 — nearly 24 percent higher than in the same period in 2023, when 5,845 were registered.
The Q4 numbers also marked a slight uptick, of less than two percent, over Q3 2024.
Despite last year’s bump, however, the territory’s total of 356,675 registered companies as of Dec. 31 was down from 363,595 recorded at the end of last September — and more than 25 percent short of the peak of 481,002 in December 2011.
Other numbers
The territory’s financial sector has been trying to diversify its business base beyond incorporations in recent years by expanding into other areas such as limited partnerships and trademarks.
The final quarter of 2024 saw a leap in LPs, with 86 being formed, up from 79 in the previous three months and marking a significant increase in the 66 registered in the third quarter of 2023.
And 89 new applications to register a trademark in the second quarter of the year was a rise over the 62 recorded in the previous quarter and the 61 in the same period last year.
Since the enactment of the Trade Marks Act in September 2015, a total of 2,688 new applications to register a trademark have been filed.
The past three-year period has seen 270 trademarks registered in 2021; 345 in 2022; and 278 in 2023, according to the FSC figures.
The FSC numbers also showed a total of 156 matters before the Licensing and Supervisory Committee in the final three months of 2024.
The LSC grants approvals and authorisations for specified initial licensing and ongoing applications under any financial services legislation in reference to 2024 figures for the third quarter.
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