5,936 new companies were incorporated, and 1,126 companies were removed from the register.
190 companies were placed into liquidation, there were 28 receiverships and 1 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 March 2023
There were 716,503 registered companies at 31 March 2023.
During the first quarter of 2023 there were 13,853 new companies incorporated and 9,097 company removals.
The number of new company registrations during the first quarter of 2023 decreased by 850 (5.8% decrease) compared with the same quarter in 2022 and by 3,093 (18.3% decrease) compared with the same quarter in 2021.
The number of removals during the first quarter of 2023 decreased by 5,245 (36.6% decrease) compared to the same quarter last year and increased by 2,884 (46.4% increase) compared to the same quarter in 2021.
There were 374 liquidator appointments during the first quarter of 2023 compared to 311 for the same quarter last year (20.3% increase) and 338 for the same quarter in 2021 (10.7% increase).
2022 quarterly commentaries
For the quarter ended 31 December 2022
There were 711,599 registered companies at 31 December 2022.
During the fourth quarter of 2022 there were 11,890 new companies incorporated and 10,880 company removals.
The number of new company registrations during the fourth quarter of 2022 decreased by 2,648 (18.2% decrease) compared with the same quarter in 2021 and by 3,390 (22.2% decrease) compared with the same quarter in 2020.
The number of removals during the fourth quarter of 2022 increased by 2,291 (26.7% increase) compared to the same quarter last year and by 2,344 (27.5% increase) compared to the same quarter in 2020.
There were 489 liquidator appointments during the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to 286 for the same quarter last year (71.0% increase) and 336 for the same quarter in 2020 (45.5% increase).
For the quarter ended 30 September 2022
There were 710,364 registered companies at 30 September 2022.
During the third quarter of 2022 there were 13,888 new companies incorporated and 9,661 company removals.
The number of new company registrations during the third quarter of 2022 decreased by 2,210 (13.7% decrease) compared with the same quarter in 2021 and by 3,507 (20.2% decrease) compared with the same quarter in 2020.
The number of removals during the third quarter of 2022 decreased by 7,144 (42.5% decrease) compared to the same quarter last year and by 6,008 (38.3% decrease) compared to the same quarter in 2020.
During the September quarters for 2020 and 2021 removal numbers were unusually high.
There were 438 liquidator appointments during the third quarter of 2022 compared to 381 for the same quarter last year (15% increase) and 366 for the same quarter in 2020 (19.7% increase).
For the quarter ended 30 June 2022
There were 705,936 registered companies at 30 June 2022.
During the second quarter of 2022 there were 14,137 new companies incorporated and 6,918 company removals.
The number of new company registrations during the second quarter of 2022 decreased by 3,332 (19.1%) compared to the same quarter in 2021 but increased by 699 (5.2%) compared to the same quarter in 2020.
The number of removals during the second quarter of 2022 increased by 45 (0.7%) compared to the same quarter last year and by 4,071 (143.0%) compared to the same quarter in 2020.
During the second quarter of 2020 the Companies Office paused removal processes as New Zealand was operating under COVID-19 restrictions, including the first 'Alert Level 4' lockdown.
There were 313 liquidator appointments during the second quarter of 2022 compared to 376 for the same quarter last year (a decrease of 16.8%) and 343 for the same quarter in 2020 (a decrease of 8.7%).
For the quarter ended 31 March 2022
There were 698,546 registered companies at 31 March 2022.
During the first quarter of 2022 there were 14,702 new companies incorporated and 14,450 company removals.
The number of new company registrations during the first quarter of 2022 decreased by 2,244 (13.2%) compared with the same quarter in 2021 but increased by 2,195 (17.5%) compared with the same quarter from 2020.
The number of removals during the first quarter of 2022 increased by 8,218 (131.9%) compared to the same quarter last year.
The relatively large number of removals includes a catch up that takes place on the register from time to time following the lifting of a number of objections to removal at one time.
There were 310 liquidator appointments during the first quarter of 2022 compared to 338 for the same quarter last year (a decrease of 8%) and 403 for the same quarter in 2020 (a decrease of 23%).
2021 quarterly commentaries
For the quarter ended 31 December 2021
There were 698,163 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%) compared with the same quarter in 2020 but increased by 2,428 (20.1%) compared with the same quarter from 2019.
The number of removals during the fourth quarter of 2021 increased by 146 (1.7%) 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%) compared with the same quarter in 2020 but increased by 2,154 (15.4%) compared with the same quarter from 2019.
The number of removals during the third quarter of 2021 increased by 1,213 (7.7%) compared to the same quarter last year.
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).
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.
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.
