Muscat: The total number of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) registered with the Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Riyada) at the end of December 2020 stood at 48,669, a rise by 14% compared to the same period of 2019, according to the data released by the National Centre for Statistics and information (NCSI).

Among the governorates, Muscat topped the list with 33.6% of the total SMEs registered till the end of December 2020, followed by North Al Batinah with 15.8%, Al Dakhiliyah with 12.6%, Dhofar with 8.3% and the rest of governorates at 29.7%.

The Governorate of Muscat had 16,332 SMEs registered at the end of December 2020, followed by North Al Batinah with 7,671, Al Dakhiliyah with 6,152, Dhofar with 4,050, South Al Batinah with 3,630, and North Al Sharqiyah with 3,264 SMEs registered.

This was followed by South Al Sharqiyah with 2,886 SMEs, Al Dhahirah with 2,818 SMEs, and Al Buraimi with 1,040 SMEs registered. Al Wusta had 641 SMEs and Musandam had 185 SMEs registered, which was the lowest among the governorates as at the end of December 2020. 

Source: https://www.omanobserver.om/number-of-smes-increases-14-at-end-of-december-2020-in-sultanate/