Riyadh - Sharikat Mubasher: The number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Saudi Arabia reached 1.27 million during the third quarter (Q3) of 2023, making a 3.5% increase, the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority (Monsha'at) stated in a recent report.

The 'SME Monitor Quarterly Report Q3 2023' report stated that this increase was driven by strong public support, robust investment across the venture capital space, and continued private sector investment across the entire ecosystem.

Riyadh seized the largest share of 43.3% of the SMEs followed by Makkah Province which captured 18.3% of the SMEs and Eastern Province which captured 10.8% of the total SMEs number.

The report elaborated that the Kingdom recorded 1.1 million micro-sized companies in Q3-23, while the number of small-sized companies recorded 151,170.

Furthermore, the total number of medium-sized companies in the Kingdom reached 18,176 in Q3-23.

Moreover, the report showed that the private sector investment in SMEs increased year-on-year by 18.8% in Q2-2023 to SAR 262.7 billion, signaling the financial sector’s rising confidence in the Saudi SME ecosystem.