Business names registered with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) expanded by more than 10 percent in the first four months of the year to over 540,000, as business activity across the country remained strong despite rising costs.

The latest DTI data showed that business name registrations from January to April reached 543,534, compared to 491,327 filings in the same period last year.

Nearly 84 percent, or 454,640, of total were new applications, while 88,894 were renewals.

The wholesale and retail trade sector accounted for the bulk of business name registrations during the four-month period, with 309,732 filings, or 57 percent of total.

This was followed by accommodation and food service activities with 72,243 applications; real estate activities with 30,926 filings; and manufacturing with 27,550 registered business names.

By region, Calabarzon generated the highest entrepreneurial activity in the country by the end of April, with a total of 95,708 registrations.

Central Luzon placed second with 70,971 filings, followed by Metro Manila with 64,079 registrations, and Ilocos Region with 32,660 applications.

In terms of the monthly tally, April posted the lowest total so far this year, with 79,099 filings compared to 96,671 in the previous month.

Year-on-year, however, business name registrations increased by 33 percent from 59,352 in April last year.

The growth in business name filings comes as the country grapples with rising costs of key commodities due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which earlier prompted the government to declare a state of national energy emergency.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort said the increase is consistent with “the growth in the overall economy, though slower, as well as the country’s favorable demographics.”

It remains to be seen whether the current crisis will slow down business name registrations in the coming months, especially with the country’s inflation rate soaring to 7.2 percent in April, the highest since March 2023.

Based on DTI data, around 83 percent, or 447,918, of registered business names as of end-April were filed online.

Meanwhile, 89,181 business names were registered through a hybrid scheme, while the remaining 6,435 were completed through walk-in applications.

Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) senior research fellow John Paolo Rivera said the upward trajectory in business name registrations this year is largely driven by resilient domestic demand and the emergence of online businesses, including those under low-cost and service-oriented.

He noted that rising costs in recent months, especially fuel prices, may have an indirect effect on the increase in business formations as Filipinos seek to supplement their income.

“But sustained high fuel prices are more likely to temper future growth in registrations rather than drive it,” Rivera said in a Viber message.