The number of small and medium-sized businesses grew by 4% in the year

At the same time, the number of employees of these companies remained practically unchanged throughout the year: 15.1 million, the same number as in 2023.

An increase in the number of companies while maintaining the number of employees in them may be associated with a process of active transformation of the economy and the release of new niches, says Sergei Elin, head of the AIP audit and consulting group, Moscow expert. branch of Russian Support for the financial and legal security of companies.

“By moving from one area of ​​business to another, a new company often opens itself up to new partnerships. The old company may not be closed yet. Settlement takes longer; Sometimes the company can be in “sleeping” mode for more than a year. And this will be reflected in the fact that the number of companies will increase. I think this can explain the increase in the number of legal entities, but not the increase in staff,” Elin explained.

Furthermore, according to him, the factor of personnel shortage could influence the dynamics of the year 2024.

According to the Federal Tax Service, of the total number of SMEs, 96% are micro-businesses, about 3.5% are small businesses and 0.3% are medium-sized businesses.

The distribution structure of SMEs by region has not changed compared to 2023. The Central Federal District (FD) accounts for 32% of small and medium-sized businesses, 17% are registered in the Volga Federal District, 11% in each of the North-Western and Southern Federal Districts, 10% in the Siberian Federal District, 8% belong to the Ural Federal District, 5% to the Far Eastern Federal District, 4% to the North Caucasus Federal District, 2% to the southwestern constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

The register of the Federal Tax Service contains data on individual entrepreneurs and legal entities. The self-employed are not taken into account.