PH business listings likely dipped in 2025, says DTI

Fewer businesses registered and renewed their names with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in 2025, with total registrations slipping 4.27 percent to 1.02 million, based on preliminary data near the end of the year.

Figures from the DTI’s Business Name Registration System (BNRS) portal as of Dec. 23 showed that registrations breached the one-million mark for the second straight year, though lower than the 1.06 million recorded for the full year in 2024.

Registrations stood at 984,330 in 2023 and 937,423 in 2022.

December recorded the lowest number of registrations among all months at 37,121. Although the figure is still expected to rise slightly as data from the final week of the year have yet to be reflected.

Even so, the December 2025 tally was higher than the 35,830 registrations logged in December 2024.

Of the 2025 total, 879,304 were new registrations, while 137,053 were renewal applications.

Smaller businesses continued to make up the bulk of registrations, with barangay-level applications reaching 604,087. City and provincial registrations followed with 223,692, while national registrations totaled 108,672 and regional registrations stood at 79,906.

Retail leads

Retail and trade remained the leading industry category, accounting for 483,923 registrations in the preliminary full-year count. This figure excludes the sale of motor vehicles and motorcycles.

Food and beverage service activities followed with 118,919 registrations, while real estate activities logged 53,250, other personal service activities had 33,658 and wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles recorded 30,418.

In an earlier interview, Trade Secretary Cristina Roque said the DTI was seeking to attract more retail investors to the Philippines, particularly from overseas, to diversify the country’s foreign investment mix.

READ: DTI woos 4 South Korean retailers

This push comes as the Philippines’ foreign investment inflows remain skewed toward manufacturing.

By region, Calabarzon topped business registrations with 191,163 applications as of Dec. 23. All five of its provinces ranked among the top contributors, led by Cavite with (63,082), Rizal (42,646), Laguna (39,953), Batangas (28,424) and Quezon (14,214).

Metro Manila followed with 154,489 registrations, while Central Luzon recorded 139,301.

Launched in 2019, the DTI BNRS has been tracking business registrations since 2022, even before its full implementation in 2023.