February 9: Around 32 percent of business establishments involved in wholesale and retail trade are operating without registration across Nepal, according to the findings of the Nepal Distributive Trade Survey, 2022 unveiled by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Friday.

The survey states that 68 percent of the wholesale and retail business establishments are registered with government agencies. However, about 32 percent of establishments are found to be operating without registration.

The survey shows 1.130 million people are involved in wholesale and retail trade sector. Of them, 36 percent (403,964) are women and 64 percent (726,681) are men. The first distributive trade survey was conducted in 2008. This is the second survey after 14 years gap, according to the NSO.

The survey shows Madhesh Province has the largest number of businesses in operation that are not registered with any government agencies while Bagmati Province has the largest number of businesses registered with government agencies.

Retail trade boasts the highest level of female engagement compared to wholesale trade and motor trade and repair. According to the survey, 38.40 percent of individuals involved in retail trade are women. Conversely, women's participation in wholesale trade and motor trade and repair stands at only 19.06 percent and 10.94 percent, respectively.

The highest percentage of women engaged in distributive trade was in Karnali followed by Gandaki and Koshi provinces and lowest in Madhesh.

Only 26 percent of the trade establishment are owned by women

The Nepal Distributive Trade Survey shows only 26 percent of the trade establishment are owned by women. The retail trade is where the women ownership is higher than other two trade establishments. Women own 27 percent of the retail trade establishments, according to the survey.

Among the provinces, Gandaki Province has the highest number of women-owned trade establishments. The survey shows 35.1 percent of trade establishments in the province are owned by women.