Maputo, Oct. 16, 2024 (Lusa) - The number of active businesses in Mozambique last year grew by 2.2% compared to the previous year, to 91,752; of this total, 29.7% were located in Maputo, according to data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) consulted on Wednesday by Lusa.

According to an INE report with data on business activity, the capital alone accounted for 27,263 active companies and similar establishments at the end of last year, an increase of 3.9% on the 2022 figure.

The province that saw the largest growth in the number of companies was Niassa, in the north of the country, which closed 2023 with 2,984 active companies and establishments, an increase of 6.5% in the space of a year. However, it remains the province with the least business activity in the country, in terms of company numbers.

In 2023, the number of people working in companies and their establishments totalled 902,154 throughout the country, an increase of 2.2% in the space of a year, of which 346,632 were in the city of Maputo, equivalent to 38.4% of the total and a year-on-year increase of 1.9%, according to INE.

Niassa was the province with the fewest workers employed by companies, at 22,513, despite a 1.9% increase compared to 2022.

Of all the companies counted in the INE study, 211 or 0.2% were public enterprises or state-controlled, while 1,217 or (1.3% were public limited companies and 29,115 or 31.7% were private limited companies.

The INE report also counted 8,486 sole proprietorships - 9.2% of the total - and 52,580 individual entrepreneurs, or 57.3% of all businesses. There were also 52 cooperatives, or 0.1% of the total.

PVJ/ARO // ARO.

Lusa