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 December 2018 stood at 5,454, which is a drop by 36.7% compared to the same period of 2017, according to the data released by the Centre.
Among the governorates, Muscat topped the list with 34% SMEs registered in December 2018, followed by Al-Batinah North at 17%, Ad-Dakhliyah at 10%, Ash-Sharqiyah North at 7% and the rest of governorates at 32%. The Governorate of Al Wusta registered the decline in SMES registered by 55.4% to reach 51 SMEs from 115 in 2017, followed by the Governorate of Al-Batinah South, which registered a fall of 47% to 409 SMEs at the end of December 2018 against 771 SMEs in 2017. The Governorate of Ad-Dakhliyah registered a fall of 45.6% to reach 505 from 587 SMEs, while Adh Dhahirah saw a 45 % fall in the number of SMEs to 257 from 467 in 2017. The number of SMEs registered in Ash-Sharqiah North and Ash-Sharqiah South was 353 and 316, a decline of 36.9% and 35.9%, respectively. In the Governorate of Muscat, the total number of SMEs registered at the end of December 2018 saw a 35.5% decline to 2,015 against 3,124 the previous year, according to the data released by the NCSI. The number of SMEs set up in Dhofar at the end of December 2018 fell 22% to reach 376 from 482 during the comparable period in 2017, the data revealed.
In Musandam, there were 25 SME units registered in the 12-month period of 2018, a fall of 10.7% compared to 28 SMEs registered in 2017, whereas in Al Buraymi, the number was 191 at the end of December 2018 compared to 213 the previous year, which is a drop of 10.3%.