Company start-ups in Northern Ireland hit record high

A total of 13,704 new formations were registered in Northern Ireland during the last 12 months, an increase on 2022 when 8,575 were established, bringing the number of registered companies to an all-time high of 85,228.

The statistics are taken from the Inform Direct Review of Company Formations, using data from Companies House and the Office for National Statistics.

Belfast formed the most new businesses (5,222), followed by Newry, Mourne and Down (1,168) and Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon (1,088).

John Korchak, managing director at Inform Direct, said: “It is excellent news that Northern Ireland can celebrate a record year for new company formations during 2023.

“The year undoubtedly presented a range of challenges for business including tepid predictions of economic growth, volatility in energy prices and uncertainty from world events. However, the formation figures demonstrate very clearly that Northern Ireland’s entrepreneurs remained undeterred and pursued their ambitions to establish new ventures.

“This positive picture is mirrored in the overall position for the UK which saw the highest ever number of new companies established during 2023. The total number of UK formations exceeded 900,000 for the very first time.”

The UK saw 900,006 new companies, compared with 805,141 in 2022, which represents an increase of 11.8%. It brings the total number of UK companies to a record 5,476,772.

In Wales there were 27,162 formations and in Scotland there were 38,926. Of the 769,385 formations in England, well over one third were in London (313,446).

To see a more detailed picture of company formations in Northern Ireland – including a full local breakdown – visit: https://www.informdirect.co.uk/company-formations-2023/northern-ireland/

To see the report in full, visit: https://www.informdirect.co.uk/company-formations-2023/

Inform Direct is a company secretarial and formation specialist. Its award-winning software supports 350,000 UK companies.