Over 40 000 new companies were incorporated in New Zealand this year, brinign the total number of companies to more than 500 000.

The Companies Office of New Zealand has released its latest internal statistics, showing the number of new business entities registered in the country during the 12 months ending June 30th 2011.

According to the Companies Office, the Register of New Zealand currently lists 563 856 New Zealand companies, and during the 12 months between July 1st 2011 and June 30th 2011 43 927 new companies were incorporated. In the same time 52 960 company names were reserved, and 451 663 annual returns were filed.

The latest available statistics show a decrease in the number of new companies being registered, with 8.2 percent less incorporations being completed, compared the number seen during the 12 months ending June 30th 2010. Statistics provided by the Companies Office show that the number of new companies has been on a steady decline since the 2006 – 2007 period, when 72 247 new companies were incorporated.

The Companies Office’s push towards online facilities has also proven to be successful, with only 8 companies being registered with a paper application during the year, and nearly 99.8 percent of all annual returns being submitted online.

As at June 30th 2011 the Register also has 1008 listed Limited Partnerships, 1 643 overseas companies, 20 326 charitable trusts, 23 147 incorporated societies, 12 building societies, 29 credit unions, 156 friendly societies, 1 428 overseas issuers, 334 retirement villages, 369 superannuation schemes, 440 unit trusts, and 451 participatory securities.

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