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 June 2021 stood at 54,726, compared to 44,448 in the same period of 2020, comprising a rise by 23.1%, according to the data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

Among the governorates, Muscat topped the list with 18,460 SMEs, comprising an increase by 23.2%, followed by the Governorate of North Al Batinah which went up by 23% to reach 8,642, A’Dakhiliyah with a rise by 20.2% to stand at 6,756, and Dhofar with an increase by 23% to reach 4,586.

Other governorates also saw a rise in the number of SMEs. In the Governorate of South Al-Batinah, it went up by 27% to reach 4,189, the Governorate of North A’Sharqiah by 20% to reach 3,619, the Governorate of South A’Sharqiah by 29.2% to reach 3,272, the Governorate of A’Dhahira by 16.9% to reach 3,083, the Governorate of Al-Buraimi by 24.7% to reach 1,165, the Governorate of Al Wusta by 45.1% to reach 727 and the Governorate of Musandam by 34.3% to reach 227