Incorporation numbers for the first half of this year show a picture of steady growth, building on 2024’s modest recovery from the 25-year low recorded in 2023.
All told, 14,008 companies were formed in January through June of this year — up almost eight percent from the same period in 2024, according to the Financial Services Commission’s most recent statistical bulletin.
Of those, 6,971 were formed in the first quarter (compared to 6,124 last year), and 7,037 were formed in the second quarter (compared to 6,864 last year).
The numbers are good news for the incorporations sector following a long-term slide from the peak in 2007, when 77,022 companies formed.
In 2023, the annual tally fell to a 25-year low of 22,317 — 45 short of the previous low recorded in 2020 — before climbing nearly 23 percent in 2024.
Despite the steady rise in new incorporations this year, the total number of business companies registered in the Virgin Islands fluctuated.
At the end of March, 361,167 companies were on the register — up from 356,675 at the end of 2024. But by the close of June, the tally had dropped again, to 355,024.
The number has been on a fairly steady slide since peaking at 481,002 in December 2011.
Beyond incorporations
The financial sector has also been trying to widen out its business base beyond incorporations in recent years by expanding into other areas such as limited partnerships and trademarks.
The first quarter of this year saw a decline in new LPs, with 75 being formed, down from 86 in the previous three months — but an increase on the 61 registered in the corresponding first quarter of 2024.
The FSC bulletin shows the number of new LPs bounced back to 103 in the second quarter of 2025 — up from the figure of 93 recorded during the same period of last year.
Trademarks
However, the 79 new applications to register a trademark in the first three months of the year dipped to 73 in the following quarter.
These figures compare with 62 and 89 applications, respectively, in the same periods last year.
Since the enactment of the Trade Marks Act in September 2015, a total of 2,820 new applications to register a trademark have been filed.
Recent years have seen 270 trademark applications registered in 2021; 345 in 2022; 278 in 2023; and 313 in 2024, the FSC figures show.
The commission’s numbers also showed a total of 168 matters before the Licensing and Supervisory Committee in the first three months of 2025, while the following three months of saw 267 matters being considered by the LSC.
The LSC grants approvals and authorisations for specified initial licensing and ongoing applications under financial services legislation.
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