In the first 9 months of 2021, the number of businesses closing their doors permanently reached 90,300, up 15.3 per cent from the last same term, said the General Statistics Office (GSO).

GSO’s report on the socio-economic situation in September 2021 said an average of 10,000 businesses a month withdraw from the market.

The report also said that 3,899 new enterprises opened in September, down 32.3 per cent compared to the previous month and a 62.2 per cent reduction on the same period in 2020.

In the first nine months of 2021, the total number of newly-established enterprises reached 85,500, down 13.6 per cent over the same period last year. The average registered capital of a newly established enterprise was VND14 billion, down 3.1 per cent.

Capital registered in September was about VND62.4 trillion, down 8.1 per cent over the previous month and down 69.3 per cent over the same period in 2020.

However, the number of registered employees stands at 49,900, an increase of 15 per cent compared to August 2021. This is a decrease of 39.9 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has pushed many businesses close to bankruptcy. The report said that the true number of enterprises that have closed their doors may be higher, as many businesses could not carry out the procedures for withdrawing, due to COVID-19 restrictions.

In addition, the number of enterprises suspending business for a definite time was 45,100 enterprises, up 16.7 per cent over the same period last year. 32,400 businesses stopped operating while waiting for dissolution procedures, up 17.4 per cent, while 12,800 enterprises completed dissolution procedures, up 5.9 per cent.

In the first nine months of this year, 32,300 enterprises returned to operation, down 6.6 per cent compared to last year. Together with the number of newly-established enterprises, 117,800 businesses joined the market, down 11.8 per cent from the last same term. — VNS