New incorporations in the Virgin Islands recently saw their strongest quarter in four years, according to statistics released by the Financial Services Commission.
In the third quarter of this year, 8,348 companies were formed in the territory — up nearly 19 percent from the 7,037 tally in the previous quarter, according to the FSC’s latest quarterly bulletin.
The number was the highest since 2021, when 9,809 incorporations were recorded in the fourth quarter.
The economic upswing suggests steady growth, building on 2024’s 23 percent recovery from the 25-year low of 22,317 incorporations recorded in 2023.
The figures are positive news for the incorporations sector following a long-term slide from the peak in 2007, when 77,022 companies formed in one year.
The new numbers mean that incorporations also showed an 11 percent jump in the first nine months of 2025 year on year. Last year during those months, 20,133 companies were formed in the territory, while in the same period in 2025 the figure stood at 22,356.
The total number of companies incorporated in the territory also increased in the third quarter. At the end of June, the register stood at 355,024, but by the close of September that figure had risen to 361,747.
This number had been on a fairly steady slide since peaking at 481,002 in December 2011.
Beyond incorporations
The financial sector has also been active in recent years in trying to broaden out its business base beyond incorporations by expanding into other areas such as limited partnerships and trademarks.
July through September also saw a sharp rise in limited partnerships created. The figure of 142 formed was nearly twice that of the 79 seen in the same period in 2024.
The FSC bulletin also said the number of trademark applications had remained steady at 77 for the timeframe — the same amount recorded in the previous three months but still down from 102 registered in the third quarter of 2024.
Since the enactment of the Trade Marks Act in September 2015, a total of 2,897 new applications to register a trade mark have been filed.
Recent years have seen 270 trademark applications registered in 2021; 345 in 2022; 278 in 2023; and 313 in 2024, the FSC figures show.
LSC matters
The commission’s numbers also showed a total of 362 matters before the Licensing and Supervisory Committee in the months of July, August and September.
The LSC grants approvals and authorisations for specified initial licensing and ongoing applications under financial services legislation.