Almost 40 per cent decline in registration of SMEs in Oman

Muscat: Small and medium enterprise registrations in the Sultanate have dropped by almost 40 per cent, according to National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
The total number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) registered with the Public Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Riyada) till the end of August 2018 stood at 3,761, which is a drop by 39.2 per cent compared to the same period of 2017, according to the data released by NCSI.
The total number of SMEs registered in August 2018 was 35,596, recording a rise compared to the end of July, when it was 35,381.
Among the governorates, Muscat topped the list with 40 per cent, SMEs registered in August 2018, followed by North Al Batinah at 15 per cent, A’Dakhiliyah at 12 per cent, Dhofar at 8 per cent and the rest of governorates at 25 per cent.
The Governorate of Al Wusta registered the highest rate of fall at 65.9 per cent to 28 SMEs from 82 last year, followed by the Governorate of South Al Batinah, which registered a fall of 50.1 per cent to 288 SMEs at the end of August this year against 577 SMEs in 2017.
The Governorate of A’Dhahirah registered a fall of 47.5 per cent to reach 188 from 358 SMEs while A’Dakhiliyah saw a 46.5 per cent fall in the number of SMEs to 431 from 805 in 2017. The number of SMEs registered in North A’Sharqiyah and South A’Sharqiyah was 245 and 214, a decline of 41 per cent and 41.7 per cent, respectively, during the comparable period in 2017. In the Governorate of Muscat, the total number of SMEs registered at the end of August 2018 saw a 36.1 per cent decline to 1,386 against 2,168 in 2017, according to the data released by the NCSI.
The number of SMEs set up in Dhofar at the end of August 2018 fell 25.6 per cent to reach 256 from 344 during the comparable period in 2017, the data revealed.
In Musandam, there were 16 SME units registered in the eight-month period of 2018, a fall of 15.8 per cent compared to 19 SMEs registered last year. In Al Buraimi, the number was 119 SMEs at the end of August this year compared to 134 SMEs last year, which is a drop of 11.2 per cent.