KARACHI: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) incorporated 4,082 companies in April 2026, the highest monthly total in Pakistan’s corporate history, bringing the number of registered companies nationwide to 294,101, the regulator said a statement on Thursday.
The commission also set back-to-back daily records within the month, registering 300 companies on April 27, a figure surpassed three days later when 340 companies were incorporated on April 30.
Punjab accounted for the largest share of new registrations at 2,093, or 51 per cent, followed by the Islamabad Capital Territory with 719 (18 per cent), Sindh with 600 (15 per cent), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 325 (8.0 per cent), Gilgit-Baltistan with 276 (7.0 per cent) and Balochistan with 69 (2.0 per cent).
Private limited companies remained the preferred corporate structure, accounting for 2,415 registrations or 59 per cent of the total. Single-member companies (SMCs) followed with 1,542 registrations, representing 38 per cent, while limited liability partnerships and other categories comprised the remaining 125, or 3 per cent. The SECP said the high proportion of SMCs pointed to a rising trend in individual entrepreneurship and the formalisation of small-scale businesses.The IT and e-commerce sector led sectoral growth with 832 new incorporations, followed by trading with 757, services with 490, real estate development and construction with 358, tourism and transport with 242, food and beverages with 158, education with 127, textiles with 105, corporate agricultural farming with 97, and mining and quarrying with 92.
Foreign participation spanned 22 countries, with China recording the highest number of shareholders at 95, followed by the United States with 11, the United Kingdom with 5, and Afghanistan with 4. Chinese investors contributed paid-up capital exceeding Rs193 million, while US investors contributed Rs75 million.
