Dubai: The Business Registration and Licensing (BRL) sector of the Department of Economic Development (DED) in Dubai, issued 2,204 new licences in February 2019, a growth of 37 per cent compared to February 2018 (1,606).

The new licences created 8,515 jobs in the labour market.

Of the new licenses issued, 61.1 per cent were commercial, 36.5 per cent professional, 1.7 per cent related to tourism and 0.7 per cent for industry.

The Business Map’ digital platform of DED, which seeks to reflect economic realities in Dubai by providing vital data on each licence category including their numbers and distribution on a monthly basis, saw 25,269 business registration and licensing transactions being completed in the month of February 2019, a growth of 27 per cent compared to February 2018 (19,885).

The report showed that licence renewal accounted for 12,018 transactions in February 2019, a growth of 52 per cent compared to February 2018 (7,906), while 5,379 transactions were related to Auto Renewal via text messages.

The report also showed that the top nationalities who secured licences in February 2019 were India, followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Britain, China, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and France.