The number of individual entrepreneurs in Moscow increased by seven percent

The number of individual entrepreneurs in Moscow, according to the Unified Register of small and medium-sized businesses, at the end of the first quarter of 2025 amounted to almost 461 thousand. This is 6.9% more than a year earlier, reported the Department of Economic Policy and Development of the city.

A wide consumer market and comfortable conditions for doing business allow the capital's entrepreneurs to choose attractive spheres and formats of work and to develop. It has become easier to create and run your own business thanks to various digital services. With their help one can quickly and easily register a business, submit reports, make payments, do accounting and search for clients, interact with consumers. The growth in the number of IEs is also facilitated by the city's support measures: grants and subsidies, deferral of rent payments, and consulting support.

Today, every tenth individual entrepreneur in the country works in the capital.

The bulk of the capital's IEs - 31% or almost 142.8 thousand - are employed in trade, with 111.7 thousand in retail trade. Moscow is the largest regional consumer market, accounting for more than 13% of the country's retail trade turnover. Trade turnover in the capital is increasing against the background of growing incomes of Muscovites and growing tourist consumption, which makes the retail sector attractive for entrepreneurs. In addition, the development of marketplaces contributes to the popularity of the segment among IEs. Access to large online marketplaces makes it easier to find buyers, does not require renting retail premises, and reduces logistics costs - warehousing services and delivery of goods are taken care of by the aggregator.

The second place is occupied by professional, scientific and technical activities. More than 61.1 thousand or 13.3% of all IEs of the city are registered here. Entrepreneurs working in this segment mainly provide various kinds of consulting services in the field of law, accounting, management, advertising and marketing services.

In the sphere of real estate operations 52.5 thousand or 11.4% of Moscow IEs work. Landlords, realtors, real estate consultants, as well as citizens who rent out apartments, register as sole proprietors.

Information and communication activities are also in the top five - 35.7 thousand or 7.8% of IEs. Transportation and storage are engaged in almost 34.2 thousand IEs or 7.4%, the most popular activities in this area are land passenger and cargo transportation.

The greatest increase in the number of individual entrepreneurs was recorded in the sphere of culture, sports, organization of leisure and entertainment. Over the year, their number increased by 11.6% to almost 16.9 thousand. New creative formats promoted through social networks, online music and video platforms, as well as small sports studios and online training located at home are actively developing in this sphere.

The number of sole proprietorships engaged in real estate transactions increased by 11.2% to 52,200.

High demand for repair and finishing services stimulated the growth in the number of IEs in construction. Over the year, the growth in this area amounted to 10.7%.

In the administrative activities and related services sector, the number of sole proprietorships increased by 10.7% to 19.8 thousand. The most popular activities include personnel recruitment, travel and reservation services.

In information and communication, the number of sole proprietorships increased by 10.2% to 35.7 thousand. There is a growing demand for outsourcing in the field of development, technical support of user applications and maintenance of internal IT infrastructure on the part of small companies that are unable to develop their own IT department.

Individual entrepreneurs are also employers. At the end of the first quarter of 2025, individual entrepreneurs employed almost 159.3 thousand employees, which is 4.5% more than a year earlier. IEs create jobs, support competition and contribute to the growth of consumer activity in the city.