Dubai issues 1,748 new business licences in November

Dubai’s Department of Economic Development (DED) has issued 1,748 new business licences in November, up 4.9 per cent compared to 1,666 licences issued in November last year.

Among the new licences issued, 62.3 per cent were commercial, 35.2 per cent were professional, 1.3 per cent related to tourism and 1.2 per cent related to industry, data from the Business Registration and Licensing (BRL) sector of the DED showed.

The BRL further issued 136 instant licences – which allow access to a licence in a single step and does not necessitate a Memorandum of Association or an existing location for the first year.

In terms of sectors, trade and repair services accounted for 36.9 per cent of the new licences issued in November, followed by real estate, leasing and business services (22.4 per cent), building and construction (14.7 per cent), community and personal services (10.4 per cent) and hotels group (4.9 per cent).

The DED’s digital platform ‘Business Map’ also showed that a total of 23,979 business registration and licencing transactions were completed during November, marking a 25.8 per cent increase from the previous month.

Data showed that 11,156 transactions were for licence renewals, 4,979 of which were related to auto renewal via text messaging.

The report also showed that the top nationalities who secured licenses in November 2018 were India, followed by Pakistan, Egypt, Bangladesh, China, Saudi Arabia, Britain, Jordan, Sudan and the Philippines.

Overall, the DED has issued a total of 27,609 new licences between January and November this year, according to the official data.