ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 5,003 new companies in October 2026, bringing the total number of registered companies in the country to 321,794.
The eZfile portal, integrated with federal and provincial systems, enabled 99.9 percent of the new registrations to be completed online, said a news release.
Private limited companies accounted for the largest share of new incorporations, with 2,773 companies (55.4%), followed by 2,079 single member companies (41.6%).
The registrations also included 105 Limited Liability Partnerships (2.1%), 39 Section 42 (not-for-profit) licensed companies (0.8%) and 7 other entities (0.1%), comprising 4 public companies, 2 foreign companies and 1 trade organisation.
Punjab recorded the highest number of incorporations at 2,663 (53.2%), followed by Islamabad Capital Territory with 934 (18.7%), Sindh with 751 (15%), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 382 (7.7%), Gilgit-Baltistan with 162 (3.2%) and Balochistan with 111 (2.2%).
The Information Technology sector led new incorporations with 991 companies. Other prominent sectors included Trading (767), Services (594), Construction (295), Food and Beverages (219), Tourism (213), Real Estate Development (170), E-Commerce (170), Education (152) and Textile (113). A further 1,319 companies were registered in other sectors.
Foreign investor participation was also recorded in the newly incorporated companies, with 173 investors from various countries. China accounted for 129 investors, followed by Germany (6), the United States (5) and the United Kingdom (3).
Turkey, Canada, Brazil, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and the Netherlands each accounted for 2 investors, while 14 investors came from other countries. The foreign investors included 5 foreign body corporates, with the remaining 168 being individual investors.
Gender-wise data on shareholders, ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs), directors and chief executives shows that males constitute the majority across all categories. Female representation was highest among shareholders and directors, at 13% each, followed by UBOs at 11% and chief executives at 8%.
