Dubai and Abu Dhabi account for 85% of UAE business licences issued in the first eight months of 2018.A total of 532,000 business licences were issued across the UAE by the end of August, a 9 percent growth from 2017, according to the UAE’s Ministry of Economy.
According to the Ministry, Dubai and Abu Dhabi accounted for 85 percent of the licences, totalling 453,000.
Of the total, Dubai accounted for 249,000 or 46.8 percent.
In last year’s World Bank Ease of Doing Business report, the UAE ranked 21st globally and first among Arab countries for the fifth year in a row.
Limited liabilities firm account for the majority of licensed firms (170,066 companies), followed by individual companies (72,807), foreign companies (2,141), single member limited liability companies (1,869), and Gulf companies (894).
In Abu Dhabi, a total of 77,406 licences were issued, including 25,460 for limited liability companies and 17,942 for company branches.
In Sharjah, 51,998 licences were issued, of which 23,178 were for limited liability companies.