Muscat: The total number of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) registered in the Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Riyada) till the end of April 2021 stood at 52,524, compared to 44,139 in April 2020, an increase of 19%, according to the data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

The number of SMEs registered in the Governorate of Muscat stood at 17,692 at the end of April 2021, followed by the Governorate of North Al Batinah with 8,310, the Governorate of A’Dakhiliyah with 6,554 comprising an increase of 17.6%, the Governorate of Dhofar with 4,388, the Governorate of South Al-Batinah with 3,981, the Governorate of North A’Sharqiyah with 3,488 comprising an increase by 16.3%, and the Governorate of South A’Sharqiyah with 3,123.

The number of SMEs registered in the Governorate of A’Dhahira stood at 2,988, marking a rise of 13.9% while 1,123 SMEs were registered in the Governorate of Al-Buraimi. In the Governorate of Al-Wusta, 684 SMEs were registered, a rise of 38.2%. The number of SMEs in the Governorate of Musandam also rose by 14.9% to stand at 193.