Business name registrations up 11% in March

BUSINESS NAME registrations rose 11% to 96,601 in March, led by retail and food service enterprises, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

According to the DTI’s business name registration system, March filings were 11.77% higher than the 86,428 recorded a year earlier.

Month on month, registered business names dropped 17% from February.

Of the total, 84,379 were new registrations, while 12,222 were renewals.

The wholesale and retail industry, which includes the repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles, and personal and household goods, reported 50,761 total registrations in March.

This was followed by accommodation and food service activities (13,768 total filings), manufacturing (5,363), real estate activities (5,045), other service activities (4,210), and transportation and storage (4,037).

Total business names registered with the DTI stood at 1.02 million in 2025, down from 1.06 million a year prior.

Women-led enterprises accounted for 12.11% or 56,652 total business registrations for the month, while male-led enterprises contributed 8.54% or 39,949.

In the first quarter, business name registrations rose 7.42% to 464,365.

As of April 5, 25,507 names were registered in Cavite, 17,098 in Laguna, 16,703 in Rizal, 13,757 in Batangas, and 7,565 in Quezon. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz