36% Growth in Issued Licenses SEDD Issues and Renews 18,921 Licenses in Q1 2026

Hamad Ali Al Mahmoud: “2026 Outcomes Confirm Sharjah's Economy Solidity and Investment Environment Attractiveness”

Sharjah Economic Development Department” SEDD” announced that the economic performance indicators achieved remarkable growth in the first quarter of 2026, with the number of licenses issued and renewed during this period reaching 18,921 licenses, compared to 18,768 licenses in the same quarter of 2025, representing a growth rate of 1%.

In details. The Department stated that the business license performance indicators achieved remarkable growth in the first quarter of 2026, with the total number of business licenses issued reaching 2,991, representing a growth of 36%, while the number of renewed business licenses reached 15,930 compared to the same period last year.

Commenting on that, HE Hamad Ali Abdalla Al Mahmoud, Chairman of Sharjah Economic Development Department and Member of the Executive Council, expressed that the indicators of business licenses registered during the first quarter of this year reflect the strength of the local economy and the continued attractiveness of Sharjah as a promising investment destination, which enhances the path of sustainable growth for the Emirate.

Also, HE pointed out that Sharjah is proceeding according to a clear strategy to maintain stable growth rates, based on key factors including its distinguished geographical location, continuous development in the service sectors, in addition to continuous work on improving services to keep pace with the highest international quality standards.

Additionally, HE illustrated that the issued data represent a significant growth in the rate of licenses issued by type during the first quarter of 2026. Thus, the commercial licenses ranked first with a total of 1,671 licenses, followed by professional licenses with 999 ones, then industrial licenses with 123 licenses. After that, “Eitimad” licenses came in fourth with a total of 123 licenses, while e-commerce licenses came in last with 75 licenses.

Regarding renewed licenses, commercial licenses came first with a total of 10,289 licenses, followed by professional licenses with 4,454 ones. Then, industrial licenses hit a number of 867 licenses, while the number of “Eitimad” licenses reached 224 ones. On the other hand, e-commerce licenses came last with 96 licenses.

In terms of the geographical distribution of issued license indicators by SEDD branches, the number of issued licenses at the headquarter reached 1,510, followed by the Industrial Areas branch with 841 licenses. Additionally, the Central Region branch recorded 326 licenses, whereas Khor Fakkan branch recorded 195 ones. Then, Kalba branch noted 98 licenses, while the Dibba Al Hisn branch recorded a total of 21 issued licenses.

As for the renewed licenses by branch, the Industrial Areas branch came first with 7,069 licenses, followed by the Headquarter which recorded 6,064 licenses. To carry on, the Central Region branch accomplished 1,567 licenses, whereas Khor Fakkan branch hit total of 636 licenses. Then, Kalba branch recorded a total of 483 renewed licenses, whereby Dibba Al Hisn branch renewed a total of 111 licenses.

44,446 Commercial Control Transactions

As for SEDD’s role to create fair relationship between traders and consumers, the department works continuously to raise their awareness and inform them of their basic rights by providing platforms, websites and continuous field visits. This resulted in recording a total number of 44,446 transactions in the field of commercial control during the first quarter of this year. This figure highlights the significant growth of the emirate’s economy in 2026 and also represent the increased demand for business licenses in the emirate.

3,073 Commercial Protection Complaints

Regarding commercial protection, a total of 3,073 commercial protection complaints were resolved in the first quarter of 2026, representing a rate of 89%. Thus, Consumer protection complaints comprised the largest share, totaling 2,812, followed by service agent complaints with154 ones, and the commercial fraud complaints that reached 107. It should be noted that SEDD also intensified its activity in such field during current crisis to monitor markets and to control price. Such thing resulted in receiving 7 price complaints, representing only 0.2% of the total complaints received by the Department.

Moreover, SEDD calls consumers to report any violation cases or illegal commercial practices through contacting the Department via the call center (80080000) or by visiting the it’s website (www.sedd.ae) or via the smart application, within the framework of active participation in monitoring the markets.