The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 2,933 new companies in August 2024, marking a 3% increase compared to the same month last year and representing the highest number of companies incorporated in a single month. The total number of companies registered with the SECP now stands at 228,494.

Approximately 56% of the companies incorporated during the month were registered as private limited companies, 41% as single-member companies, and the remaining 3% as public unlisted companies, not-for-profit associations, and limited liability partnerships. Around 99.8% of companies were registered online.

The information technology sector led with the incorporation of 431 companies, followed by trading with 401 companies, services with 367, real estate development & construction with 269, tourism with 144, e-commerce with 133, food & beverages with 122, education with 113, marketing & advertisement with 75, mining & quarrying with 64, and healthcare with 62.

Additionally, the pharmaceutical sector saw 58 new companies, textile and transport each had 56, power generation had 54, engineering had 53, chemical had 52, corporate agricultural farming had 51, fuel & energy had 49, cosmetics & toiletries had 45, auto & allied had 36, cables & electric goods had 32, communications had 27, lodging had 24, paper & board had 17, sports & allied had 16, arts & culture had 12, and 114 companies were registered in other sectors.

Foreign investment was reported in 63 new companies, primarily from Afghanistan, Australia, China, Germany, Libya, Malaysia, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Turkey, and Vietnam. The majority of the investment came from China, with 45 companies, followed by Afghanistan and Malaysia with 4 each, Germany with 3, and the remaining countries with 1 each.