The total number of business licences issued in the UAE in May 2020 amounted to 648,684, an increase of 1,035 licences from those recorded at the end of April 2020, reported state-run news agency Wam, citing statistics from the National Economic Register.

The monitoring of the country’s economic activities also show that the largest percentage increase since the start of the year was in the e-commerce sector.

In detail, the emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai account for 68.4 percent of total licences, reflecting their status as the main contributors to the country’s economic and commercial sectors.

At the end of May 2020, the number of licences issued in Abu Dhabi and Dubai totalled 443,766, with latter amounting for 300,055 and the former for 143,711.

The rest of the issued licences were distributed between Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, Ajman and Umm Al Qaiwain.

The figures also show that 64.2 percent of licences were issued to limited liability companies and individual institutions.