The number of exempted companies registered in Bermuda has gone up by 10 percent in the first six months of 2001 compared to the same period last year, according to statistics released by the Bermuda Government.

The Quarterly Bulletin of Statistics indicates a total of 12,001 exempted companies were registered at the end of the first six months of 2001. This compares to 10, 896 for the same period in 2000, 10,221 in 1999 and to 9,555 in 1998.

There was also an increase in the number of local companies listed in the period. There were 94 more or a rise of nearly 4 percent of local companies registered in the first six months of 2001 compared to the same period the year before.

The number of exempted partnership companies also rose from the the first two quarters of 2000 to the same period a year later, with 422 and 515 recorded respectively - arise of 18 percent year on year.

The number of non-resident companies also rose from 614 at the end of June 30, 2000 to 633 at the end of the same month a year later, a rise of 3 percent.

The number of non-resident insurance companies rose from 18 to 22 during the same half year period for 2000 and 2001 respectively.

Almost 20 percent of the total amount of money earned in Bermuda is taken in international business - by the end of the second quarter of 2001, $88.23 million was earned in this sector out of a total of $447.79 million.

This quarter there were $6.48 million more earned in the international business sector, compared to the year before, and employees this quarter earned $38.6 million more than in the same quarter in 1998.

At the end of 2000, the number of people working in international business was 3,216, in 1998 this figure stood at 2,874.

This compares to hotels and restaurants, which in 2000 employed 4,710 people, when in the second quarter of 2001, employees earned $34.25 million (down 0.4 percent from last year) - which equals 7.6 percent of employment income during the second quarter of 2001.

Banking, insurance and real estate accounted for 11.1 percent of the wealth earned during the second quarter, with residents who work in this sector earning a total of $49.6 million.

Business service workers earned a total of $40.3 million, almost 9 percent of the total earnings for the second quarter of 2001. The amount earned in this sector has gone up by almost 10 percent compared to the same period the year before.

Wholesale and retail employees earnings amounted to $41.9 million, 9 percent of the combined total, and marginally more than the same quarter the year before.

Public administration and defence employee earnings totalled $64.84 million, 14.5 percent of the total, while construction workers earned a total of $41.9 million, 7 percent of the total. The amount earned in construction was up by 11.3 percent compared to the same second quarter in 2000.

Residents working in the transport and communications sector earned a total of $21.9 million during the second quarter of 2001, nearly 5 percent of the total employment income. The "all other category" earned $74.9 million during the second quarter of the year.