4,072 new companies were incorporated and 2,992 companies were removed from the register.
80 companies were placed into liquidation, 4 had a receiver appointed and 3 went into voluntary administration.
General comments
Business closure is just one of multiple reasons for the removal of a company from the register. Others may include, for example:
restructuring of a business,
the merging of companies (amalgamation),
the retiring of a shelf company that is no longer serving any purpose.
It can take some months for a company to be removed from the register as there are a number of steps involved.
Voluntary administration was first used in 2008 as an option for companies facing financial difficulty.
Quarterly commentaries
For the quarter ended 31 December 2021
There were 698,117 companies on the register at 31 December 2021.
During the fourth quarter of 2021 there were 14,537 new companies incorporated and 8,701 company removals.
The number of new company incorporations during the fourth quarter of 2021 decreased by 744 (4.9 per cent) compared with the same quarter in 2020 but increased by 2,428 (20.1 per cent) compared with the same quarter from 2019.
The number of removals during the fourth quarter of 2021 increased by 146 (1.7 per cent) compared to the same quarter last year.
There were 302 liquidator appointments during the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to 359 for the same quarter last year and 457 for the same quarter in 2019.
For the quarter ended 30 September 2021
There were 691,500 companies on the register at 30 September 2021.
During the third quarter of 2021 there were 16,908 new companies incorporated and 16,944 company removals.
The number of new company incorporations during the third quarter of 2021 decreased by 1,298 (7.5 per cent) compared with the same quarter in 2020 but increased by 2,154 (15.4 per cent) compared with the same quarter from 2019.
The number of removals during the third quarter of 2021 increased by 1,213 (7.7 per cent) compared to the same quarter last year.
There were 380 liquidator appointments during the third quarter of 2021 compared to 366 for the same quarter last year and 491 for the same quarter in 2019.
A register fix was carried out in early August 2021 which rectified a technical failure to complete the removal of a number of companies earlier in the year, following the lifting of a number of objections to removal at one time (March, where we would have expected to see the numbers reflected in April).
Annual statistics
In this data file you will find the balance of companies on the register as at the end of each calendar year, from 2001 onwards, along with the numbers of:
The New Zealand Insolvency and Trustee Service only deals with some company liquidations, and generally only if appointed by the court. They release statistics each month on the numbers of liquidations that they administer along with statistics for personal insolvencies — Bankruptcies, No Asset Procedures and Debt Repayment Orders.
