In the news bulletin; statistics on the annual industry and service statistics survey conducted by the Türkiye Statistical Institute (TÜİK) such as the number of enterprises, number of employees, turnover, technology usage in SMEs, foreign trade statistics, entrepreneurship and business demographics statistics, research and development activities survey and patent application and registration statistics of the Türkiye Patent and Trademark Office are included.

3 million 568 thousand enterprises operating in the industry and service sectors are included in SMEs

SMEs constituted 99.7% of the total number of enterprises in 2021. On the other hand; they constituted 71% of employment, 48.3% of personnel costs, 44% of turnover, 37.3% of production value and 35.5% of value added at factor costs.

SMEs mostly operated in the trade sector

 According to the statistical classification of economic activities (NACE Rev.2), in 2021, SMEs; while 36.5% was operating in the wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles sector, 14.9% them operated in the transportation and storage sector, and 12.3% in the manufacturing industry.

The highest rate in SME employment was in the trade sector

In 2021; While the ratio of SMEs employment in wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles in total SMEs employment was 27.4%, this ratio was 24.1% for personnel cost, 54.5% for turnover, 25.1% for value added at factor cost and 15.8% for production value.

Value added per employee in medium-sized enterprises was 173 thousand TL in 2021

While the average value added per employee for SME initiatives was 15 thousand TL in 2009, this value was 78 thousand TL in 2021. Among SME groups, the highest value added per employee for 2009 and 2021 was in medium-sized enterprises with 29 thousand TL and 173 thousand TL, respectively, while for the same years, these values were respectively 19 thousand TL and 86 thousand TL for small-scale enterprises, 8 thousand TL and 28 thousand TL for micro-scale enterprises.

Personnel cost per employee in SMEs was 40 thousand TL in 2021

While the average personnel cost per employee for SME enterprises was 8 thousand TL in 2009, this value increased to 40 thousand TL in 2021. Among the SME groups, the highest personnel costs per employee for 2009 and 2021 were realized in medium-sized enterprises with 15 thousand TL and 68 thousand TL, respectively, while for the same years these values were 11 thousand TL and 49 thousand TL for small-scale enterprises and 4 thousand TL and 21 thousand TL for micro-scale enterprises.

2 thousand 771 SMEs in the manufacturing industry manufactured in high technology class

When SMEs in the manufacturing industry are classified according to their technology levels, 55.9% of them manufactured in low technology class, while this rate was 45.9% in large-scale enterprises.

When analyzed according to SME size groups; 57% of micro-scale enterprises manufactured in low technology class, 31.2% with medium-low technology, 11.2% with medium-high technology and 0.6% manufactured in high technology class. On the other hand, these rates were 51.3%, 30.4%, 17.2% and 1% in small-scale enterprises, 50.4%, 29.1%, 19% and 1.4% in medium-scale enterprises, respectively.

The birth rate of SMEs in 2021 was 16.1%

The ratio of the number of SME enterprises born in 2020 to the number of active SMEs in 2020 (entrepreneurship birth rate) was 14.8%, and the share of employment in SMEs born in 2020 in the total employment of active SMEs in 2020 was 7.0%. These rates increased to 16.1% in the enterprise birth rate and 7.7% in the employment share.

The highest birth rate of SMEs in 2021 was micro-scale enterprises with 17.2%, followed by small-scale enterprises with 5% and medium-sized enterprises with 3.6%, respectively. The highest rate of born enterprises in employment was micro-scale enterprises with 12.9%, followed by small-scale enterprises with 3.1% and medium-sized enterprises with 1.8%.

SMEs made 30.4% of total exports

30.4% of total exports and 14.7% of imports for 2021 were carried out by SMEs.

In total exports in 2021; While the share of micro-scale enterprises was 2.5%, the share of small-scale enterprises was 10.7% and the share of medium-scale enterprises was 17.2%. The share of large-scale enterprises was 69.6%.

While 61.3% of the exports of SMEs were made in the trade sector, 33.2% was madeby in the industrial sector.

The share of SMEs in imports was 14.7%

In 2021 total imports; The share of micro-scale enterprises was 0.8%, the share of small-scale enterprises was 4.4%, and the share of medium-scale enterprises was 9.5%. The share of large-scale enterprises was 85.3%.

While 62.4% of the imports of SMEs were madeby in the trade sector, 31.4% was madeby in the industrial sector.

The export value of SMEs, which was 57 billion dollars in 2013, increased to 68 billion dollars in 2021. In imports, the value, which was 48 billion dollars in 2013, decreased to 38 billion dollars in 2021.

47.3% of the total exports of SMEs were made to European countries

47.3% of the exports made by SMEs in 2021 were made to European countries and 33.7% to Asian countries. SMEs made 42.6% of their imports from European countries and 47.4% from Asian countries.

90.8% of the exports of SMEs were manufacturing industry products

In 2021 exports of SMEs, the share of clothing sector was 12.9%, machinery and equipment not classified elsewhere with 10%, and the share of textile products was 9.1%. The prominent products in the import of SMEs in 2021 was chemicals and chemical products with 16.3%, machinery and equipment not classified elsewhere with 15.6%, basic metals with 14.6%, and computer, electronic and optical products, potentiometers with 6.4%.

SMEs made 27.1% of total R&D expenditures

SMEs made 15 billion 458 million TL of the total gross domestic R&D expenditure of financial and non-financial companies for 2021. This expenditure constitutes 27.1% of financial and non-financial companies R&D expenditure. A total of 146 thousand 735 people worked as R&D personnel in financial and non-financial companies in terms of Full Time Equivalent (FTE). 43.6% of these personnel in terms of FTE were employed in SMEs.

513 patents of SMEs were registered

While the total number of patent applications by SMEs was one thousand 263 in 2021, 513 patents were registered in the same year. In SME scales, micro-sized enterprises with 454 patent applications and medium-sized enterprises with 238 patent registrations ranked first. (ILKHA)