Figures released show that Wales hit two record business highs during 2022 – both for new company formations and businesses located in the country.

There were 22,120 new companies registered, an increase of 3.4% on the previous 12 months, resulting in a total of 149,358 companies in Wales.

The statistics come from the Inform Direct Review of Company Formations, using data from Companies House and the Office for National Statistics.

Cardiff formed the most new businesses (7,210), followed by Swansea (1,616) and Newport (1,320).

John Korchak, Operations Director at Inform Direct said:

“It is great news to see that Wales can celebrate a double record year for business growth in 2022.

“The last few years have been turbulent for businesses, with inflation and a cautious economic outlook following the impact of the pandemic. However, in these figures we see evidence of the ambition, creativity and resilience of entrepreneurs in Wales, as well as the benefits from the country’s support for a range of enterprises.

“This positivity is mirrored in the overall picture for the UK which saw a record number of new companies established during 2022, exceeding 800,000 for the very first time.”

The UK saw 805,141 new companies, compared to 771,617 in 2021, which represents an increase of 4.3% and brings the total number of companies to 5,236,227.

Of the 703,785 formations in England, well over one third were in London (274,838). 35,158 were in Scotland and 8,575 in Northern Ireland.

Dissolutions of UK companies totalled 578,679, down on 2021 when 606,912 were recorded, suggesting that new and existing businesses are adapting to survive in a post-pandemic business environment.