About a quarter of a million companies launched operations in the UAE in 2025, official figures show, as authorities prepare new legislation under the Commercial Companies Law to simplify rules for limited liability companies (LLCs).
The figure is about a third of the 760,000 companies that were established since the law's introduction in September 2021 to the end of 2024, and the plan is to reach two million companies over the next 10 years, the Ministry of Economy and Tourism said on Tuesday.
As of the end of last year, the number of companies had hit approximately 1.4 million, which had also helped create a significant number of jobs, the ministry said, adding that the number of small and medium enterprises owned by UAE nationals has leapt 63 per cent over the past five years.
The Commercial Companies Law was amended last month as part of efforts to improve competitiveness and provide a flexible and robust legal environment.
The ministry expects the number of new company licences issued to increase by up to 15 per cent in the first year of implementing the changes.
“The government has worked to modernise competitive economic legislation that keep pace with the future and create flexible and open horizons for companies [in] all sizes and legal forms,” Abdulla bin Touq, Minister of Economy and Tourism, told a news briefing in Dubai.
"To reach the two-million target, we need to have more agility, accessibility, movements, types and more sophistication in your economy, and I think this is an opportunity for us as well to change the law and make sure that it's actually very agile," he said.
The ministry is also working with authorities to enact a legislation that will provide more clarity on the issuance of shares within LLCs, which is expected to be finalised and launched in 2026, Mr bin Touq said.
An LLC is a business structure that typically combines the characteristics of a corporation and partnerships or sole proprietorship, with personal assets more protected from risks. In the UAE, LLCs gain access to the local market, from customers to partners and suppliers, helping improve their businesses.
The regulation that is being drawn up has six key points, including guidelines for interest shares, priority to get capital upon liquidation or ending of a contract, and limited shares, which have restrictions when it comes to transf
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