Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The total number of commercial registrations in Saudi Arabia jumped to 1.3 million in the third quarter of 2023, of which 33.7 percent and 38.6 percent were owned by Saudi women and young men respectively.

There has been a growth in the issuance of commercial registrations by 16 percent in the third quarter of 2023 compared to the same quarter of 2022. The rise in commercial registration in the third quarter was 2.3 percent compared to the second quarter of the year. The rate of registrations issued to women reached 29 percent during the third quarter of the current year.

These figures were released in the quarterly bulletin for the business sector issued by the Ministry of Commerce. The bulletin also recorded the robust growth in the commercial registration in the e-commerce and other promising sectors in the Kingdom during the third quarter of 2023.

The figures showed that telecare and telemedicine centers witnessed a growth of 33 percent, with more than 757000 registrations, compared to 568000 registrations in the same quarter of 2022. Riyadh was the topper with about 404 registrations, and it was followed by Makkah (190), the Eastern Province (66), Madinah (29) and Al-Qassim (15).

According to the bulletin, the growth rate of e-commerce registrations reached 12 percent in the third quarter, with more than 36300 commercial registrations, compared to 32300 registrations in the same quarter of last year. The top five regions in terms of registrations were Riyadh (14500) and it was followed by Makkah with more than 9200 registrations, Eastern Province (5900), Madinah 1800, and Al-Qassim (1200).

In the field of financial technology solutions, the growth rate of commercial registrations reached 21 percent, with more than 2800 registrations, compared to more than 2300 registrations in the third quarter of 2022. The Riyadh region was the highest in terms of registrations with 1700 registrations, followed by Makkah (588), Eastern Province (279), Madinah (84) and Al-Qassim (44).

There has been 12 percent growth in the field of special software design and programming with more than 9000 registrations by the end of the third quarter, compared to more than 8000 registrations in the same quarter of last year. Riyadh was the highest in terms of registrations with about 5500 registrations, followed by Makkah (1900), Eastern Province (998), Madinah (225) and Al-Qassim (151).

The delivery services sector via electronic platforms recorded a growth of 45 percent with more than 3000 registrations, compared to about 2100 registrations in the third quarter of 2022. The number of registrations in Riyadh stood at over 1600 registrations, and it was followed by Makkah (775), Eastern Province (291), Madinah (83) and Al-Qassim (61).

In the field of heritage hotels, the growth rate reached 60 percent, with more than 1500 registrations, compared to 963 registrations in the third quarter of 2022. The Makkah region was the highest with 605 registrations, followed by Riyadh (545), Madinah (122), Eastern Province (101) and Asir (62).

The growth in the field of sports academies reached 43 percent, with more than 1000 registrations at the end of the third quarter, compared to 715 registrations in the same quarter of last year. Riyadh was the highest in terms of registrations with 444 registrations, followed by Makkah (273), Eastern Province (119), Al-Qassim (43), and Madinah (40).

The bulletin showed that the growth rate in the advertising agencies sector accounted for 19 percent with about 11800 registrations in the third quarter of 2023, compared to about 9900 registrations in the same quarter of last year. The top five regions in terms of registrations were Riyadh (7100), Makkah with more than 4000 registrations, followed by the Eastern Province with more than 1900 registrations, Madinah (627), and Asir (518).

With regard to the real estate brokerage sector, the growth rate reached 35 percent with about 19000 registrations, compared to about 14000 in the third quarter of 2022. The regions with the highest registrations were: Riyadh (8700), Makkah (6200), Eastern Province (2800), Madinah (973) and Al-Qassim (884).