MUSCAT: 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 June stood at 27,923.
There was a 35.2 per cent fall in the number of SMEs at the end of June 2017 compared to the same period of 2016, according to Riyada, data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
Compared to May 2017, there was a 46 per cent fall in the total number of SMEs at the end of June, the data showed. While the total number of SMEs at the end of June 2016 was 7,257, it declined to 4,702 during the comparable period this year. The total number of SMEs at the end of 2016 was 23,221. The Governorate of Dhofar registered the highest rate of decline at 61.4 per cent to 243 SMEs from 630 last year, while the next highest rate of fall was registered in the Governorate of Al Dakhliyah at 52.7 per cent with a total of 612 from 1,294. Interestingly, the Governorate of Al Batinah
North registered a fall of 44.6 per cent to 693 SMEs at the end of June this year compared to 2016 when the total number of SMEs were 1,250.
The Governorate of Al Dhahirah saw a 42 per cent decline to 278 SMEs from 479 in 2016 and the number of SMEs set up in Al Sharqiyah North was 328 with a decline of 40.7 per cent from 553 during the comparable period in 2016.
In Al Sharqiyah South the number of SMEs fell by 26.3 per cent to 272 from 369 in 2016.
In Al Buraimi, the number of SMEs set up at the end of June 2017 fell to 93 (25 per cent) against 124 during the comparable period in 2016, the data revealed.
In Musandam, there was an fall of 18.2 per cent in the number of SME units at 18 when it was 22 in June 2016.
In the Governorate of Muscat, the total number of SMEs saw a 16.6 per cent decline to 1,633 compared to 1,959 at the end of June 2016, according to the data released by the NCSI in July. — ONA
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