Haiti's Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI) registered 19,720 self-employed merchants between December 2024 and October 16, 2026, according to figures released on Thursday, October 22, and reported by Le Nouvelliste.

The West department accounts for 13,222 of them, about two-thirds of the total. Delmas leads the communes with 5,136 registrations, followed by Pétion-Ville with 3,659.

In the first nine months of 2026, the ministry recorded 9,006 registrations, 7.8% more than in the same period of 2025.

The figures come as a government caravan travels through all ten departments to help 5,000 businesses enter the formal economy.