Over 32,000 SMEs registered in Oman

Muscat: So far over 32,000 SMEs have been registered in the Sultanate, reported the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
According to the preliminary data by NCSI, by the end of January this year, 606 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) were registered by the Publuc Authority for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises, bringing the total number of enterprises to 32,441.
However, despite having the largest number of SMEs, Muscat recorded only 230 new registrations leading to a decline by 29.4 per cent in comparison to the same period in 2017. This brought up the total number of SMEs to 10,049.
Al Buraimi on the other hand saw an increase in the number of registered SMEs with a rise of 53.8 per cent when compared to last year. While North Batinah ranked second in registering large numbers of SMEs since the beginning of the year until the end of January, where it registered 91 institutions. However it saw a decrease of 37.7 per cent when compared to 2017, bringing the total number of SMEs in the province to 4,988.
Meanwhile, Al' Dakhiliyah registered 68 businesses by the end of January, resulting in a 50 per cent decrease compared to the same period last year. The total number of enterprises in the governorate rose up to 4,402.
44 companies have registered in South Batinah since the beginning of 2018, but in comparison to last year, the number of registered SMEs was down by 61 per cent. The total number of SMEs were up by 2,403
Northern Sharqiyah and Dhahirah saw a decrease in the number of registered business by 39.1 per cent and 43.3 per cent respectively.