The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) reported an all-time high business name (BN) registration in 2022 at 932,097, surpassing the previous record at 916,164 in 2020.
According to the DTI, there were 827,491 new BNs registered this year accounting for 88.8 percent of overall registrations. Meanwhile, the remaining 104,606 were renewal of BN registrations.
The 2022 figure was also higher by 7.4 percent than the 867,647 registered BNs in 2021. This was also the highest annual number of registrations for the past 10 years.
“The rising number of sole proprietors registering their business names is indeed a positive sign that the Filipino entrepreneurial spirit is alive and recovering from the pandemic. We are pleased that more sole proprietors have undertaken the necessary first step of registering their businesses, starting with their business names,” said DTI Secretary Fred Pascual in a statement.
Based on the Philippine Standard Industrial Classification (PSIC), most of the BN registrations are enterprises engaged in retail/selling in sari-sari stores with 180,406 processed applications. This was followed by other restaurants and mobile food services activities and real estate buying, selling, renting, leasing, and operating of self-owned/leased apartment buildings, non-residential and dwellings with 75,391 and 32,764 registrations respectively.
“DTI wants to make business registration less complicated and seamless. As we constantly integrate technology in the improvement of our services, the Department is working closely with the DICT to fully implement an end-to end registration, in support of e-governance measures to achieve a more efficient public service delivery and better experience for our citizens,” Pascual added.
The DTI noted that since the development and launch of the Business Name Registration System (BNRS) Next Gen in 2019, BN applications registered and processed online grew from 35 percent to 75 percent based on the payment collections received.
Under the BNRS, applicants no longer need to visit DTI Offices and Negosyo Centers to register their business names. They can simply register using their computers or mobile phones with internet connections within eight minutes, anytime, anywhere.
Likewise, applicants may avail of various digital payment options such as Gcash, Maya, Credit Cards, and LandBank LinkBiz portal for fund transfers. This year, however, 25 percent of registrants paid via DTI teller.