The number of registered businesses in Bermuda fell by 1,168 in the space of a year, government data show.

The 7.2 per cent decline came as the tally of both international and local companies dipped for a third successive quarter in the first three months of 2026.

The local company tally dropped to a 4½-year low of 3,660 — down by 442 businesses or 10.1 per cent from a year earlier — according to Quarterly Bulletin of Statistics.

This is the lowest number recorded since the third quarter of 2021.

While 58 new businesses were registered in the January to March period, as stated by Jason Hayward, the Minister of Economy and Labour, in a news conference last week, the net loss of local companies meant the total declined by 13 from the end of last year.

The number of exempted companies — which dropped below 10,000 for the first time in at least six years in the fourth quarter of 2025 — fell by 89 in the first quarter of this year to stand at 9,702.

Including exempted partnerships and non-resident businesses, there were 15,122 businesses registered in Bermuda at the end of March 2026, compared with 16,290 a year earlier.

The drop in international business numbers coincided with the introduction of Bermuda’s corporate income tax in 2025.

The 15 per cent levy applies to the Bermuda profits of multinational groups with global revenues of more than €750 million (about $859 million).

The tax, which aligns with the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development’s global minimum tax initiative, reduces the incentive for global corporations to channel profits through offshore subsidiaries that have no economic substance, such as employees or office space, on the island.

Even as the number of businesses fell, the amount paid out in employment income rose by 6.3 per cent from a year earlier, the first quarter data show.

International business, which provides about 15 per cent of Bermuda’s full-time jobs, generated nearly half of the island’s total employment income of nearly $1.46 billion in the first three months.

Construction was the sector to see the biggest increase in employment income (12 per cent), followed by public administration and defence (11.6 per cent), while the two sectors to see declines were transport and communication (-10.1 per cent) and business services (-6.9 per cent).

Bermuda’s gross domestic product grew by 0.5 per cent in the first quarter, after being adjusted for inflation.