KARACHI: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 3,881 new companies in January 2026. During the month, 82 newly incorporated companies attracted foreign investment from investors representing China, the United States, Afghanistan, Australia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Palau, South Africa, Albania, Denmark, Germany, Malaysia, South Korea, Spain and Ukraine.
Of these incorporations, 99.9 per cent were completed online through the SECP’s eZfile system. The newly registered companies were incorporated with a cumulative paid-up capital of Rs8.4 billion, bringing the total number of registered companies in the country to 283,540.
In terms of corporate structure, private limited companies accounted for 59 per cent of the new registrations, while single-member companies constituted 38 per cent. The remaining 3 per cent comprised public unlisted companies, not-for-profit organisations, and limited liability partnerships.
The Province of Punjab recorded the highest number of incorporations with 1,998 companies (52 per cent), followed by the Islamabad Capital Territory with 747 (19 per cent), Sindh with 601 (15 per cent), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 343 (9.0 per cent), Gilgit-Baltistan with 127 (3.0 per cent), and Balochistan with 65 (2.0 per cent).
Sectoral analysis shows that the information technology (IT) and e-commerce sectors led with 729 new companies, followed by trading (613), services (494), and real estate development and construction (347). Other sectors contributing to the growth included tourism and transport (234), food and beverages (183), education (145), mining and quarrying (100), marketing and advertising (95), communications (83), textiles (77), corporate agricultural farming (75), pharmaceuticals (65), healthcare (62), engineering (60), fuel and energy (55), and auto and allied industries (45). An additional 419 companies were registered across various other sectors such as chemicals, cosmetics and toiletries, cables and electrical goods, and paper and board.
