How many companies are in the Eastern Province?
Commercial registrations in the Eastern Province by city, business structure and date of creation, with how the region compares with the rest of Saudi Arabia.
301.3K
active commercial registrations — 15.8% of the Kingdom, ranked 3 of 13 regions.
Ministry of Commerce data · Q2 2026
The Eastern Province has 301,289 active commercial registrations as of 30 June 2026 — 15.8% of Saudi Arabia's 1,912,733, making it the 3rd-largest of the Kingdom's 13 regions. Of these, 187,524 are sole proprietorships (establishments), 113,133 are companies, and 632 are branches of GCC or foreign companies.
9,500 registrations created in Q2 2026 were still active at quarter end, 14.1% of the national total. That is below the region's 15.8% share of all active registrations, so new formation is concentrating elsewhere.
Limited liability companies make up 96.2% of companies in the Eastern Province and 41.5% of companies are single-person entities. The median paid-up capital of a company registered here is SAR 5k, in line with the national median of SAR 5k.
Dammam is the region's commercial centre, with 28.2% of its active registrations. Registrations are spread across 207 cities and towns in total.
- Active registrations
- 301,289
- 15.8% of Saudi Arabia
- Registered in Q2 2026
- 9,500
- 14.1% of Saudi Arabia
- Companies
- 113,133
- 187,524 sole proprietorships
- Median company capital
- SAR 5k
- Saudi Arabia: SAR 5k
New registrations by quarter — the Eastern Province
Still-active CRs by the quarter they were created. Cancelled registrations are excluded, so earlier quarters read lower.
Business structures
Active registrations by legal form
- Sole proprietorship187,52462.2%
- LLC108,83936.1%
- JSC1,9210.6%
- General partnership1,3590.5%
- Limited partnership7110.2%
- Foreign branch4880.2%
- SJSC3030.1%
- GCC branch144<0.1%
Company capital
Paid-up capital of 99,070 companies with their main registration in the Eastern Province
- Under SAR 10k59,78460.3%
- SAR 10k–100k17,54617.7%
- SAR 100k–500k11,05411.2%
- SAR 500k–5m6,5126.6%
- SAR 5m+4,1744.2%
Company variants
Share of all 113,133 companies
- Single-person companies46,98141.5%
- Holding companies3,9083.5%
- Professional companies1,2661.1%
Registrations by city in the Eastern Province
The largest cities among 207 cities and towns with registrations in the region.
Common questions
How many companies are registered in the Eastern Province?
As of 30 June 2026, the Eastern Province has 301,289 active commercial registrations: 113,133 companies and 187,524 sole proprietorships (establishments), according to Ministry of Commerce data.
How many new businesses were registered in the Eastern Province in Q2 2026?
9,500 commercial registrations created in Q2 2026 were still active at the end of the quarter — 14.1% of the national total.
What is the most common business structure in the Eastern Province?
The sole proprietorship (establishment) is the most common, with 187,524 active registrations (62.2%). It is followed by the LLC at 108,839.
What is the typical capital of a company in the Eastern Province?
The median paid-up capital of a company with its main registration in the Eastern Province is SAR 5k; the middle half report between SAR 5k and SAR 50k.
Can a foreign investor set up a company in the Eastern Province?
Yes. Foreign investors can own 100% of a company in most activities after obtaining a MISA investment licence, then registering the company with the Ministry of Commerce. Alpha Consultancy handles the licence, commercial registration and post-registration setup in every region.
Figures are Alpha Consultancy's analysis of the Ministry of Commerce's open datasets on the Saudi Open Data Platform (open.data.gov.sa): the register of active commercial registrations (CRs) as of 30 June 2026.
Active CRsinclude main and branch registrations, as in the Ministry's own totals. Registered in a period counts CRs created in that period that were still active on 30 June 2026; registrations since cancelled are not in the source file, so older periods read lower than the number originally issued.
The Ministry's extract is dated 30 June 2026; it was taken at the start of that day, so registrations created on the reference date itself are not included.
No individual business is identified on these pages; only aggregate counts are published.
Setting up a company in the Eastern Province?
We handle the MISA licence, commercial registration and everything after it for companies setting up in the Eastern Province.