The number of international companies setting up in Bermuda has continued to drop and has nearly halved since 2000, according to figures released last week by Government.

The Quarterly Bulletin of Statistics ?Detailed Tabulations? show that a total of 756 new companies set up in the first three quarters of 2003, down 12 percent from the same period a year earlier when there were 855 companies.

In 2001 the first three quarters of the year recorded 1,037 companies, and in 2000, this figure was 1,408 ? nearly double the number for the first three quarters of 2003.

Of the international companies registered in the first three quarters of 2003, 691 were exempted companies, 37 were exempted partnerships and 28 non-resident.

This compares to the same period a year earlier when there were 779 exempted companies, 38 exempted partnerships and 38 non-resident.

These two years are in stark contrast to 2000, which was considered a boom year for incorporations, when there were 1,292 exempted companies, 77 exempted partnerships and 39 non-resident companies.

Overall the total number of exempted companies on the register by the third quarter of 2003 was 12,125, up from the same period a year earlier when this figure stood at 11,956. In the third quarter of 2000 this figure was 11,194.

In the third quarter of 2003, the total number of exempted partnerships was 607, non-resident was 646 and non-resident insurance was 19.

This compares to the same period a year earlier when there were 569 exempted partnerships, 637 non-resident and 19 non-resident insurance.

In 2000 in the third quarter there were 452 exempted partnerships, 615 non-resident and 22 non-resident insurance.

During the first three quarters of 2003, there was a jump in the number of local companies incorporated of 6 percent, rising from 143 in 2002 to 151 in 2003.

The same figures show that international business paid out $34,115,000 more in salaries in the first three quarters of 2003, when the running total was $329,939,000 than it did for the same period a year earlier when it was $295,824,000.

The most recent figures for employment in international business was for 2002, when there were 3,587 people working in International business (averaging out at a pay of $92,000 for the first nine months of 2003).