Following the update of the SME registry, the number of registered small and medium-sized enterprises in the country exceeded 6.56 million, setting a new record since the beginning of their accounting. At the same time, the number of self-employed people reached 10.2 million.
Since the beginning of 2024, last year's trend of growth in the number of entrepreneurs has continued: by the end of 2023, the number of SMEs had increased by 5.9% compared to 2022.

"At the beginning of 2024, the trend of increasing the number of small and medium-sized businesses continued. This indicates that the sector has successfully overcome the consequences of the sanctions shocks of recent years. This was also facilitated by the implementation of a set of measures to support the SME sector within the framework of the national project 'Small and Medium Entrepreneurship,' approved by the President," stressed Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexander Novak.

At the same time, almost half of the SMEs created since the beginning of 2024 are engaged in retail and wholesale trade (38.2%), transportation (7.8%), and construction (5.9%).

"About 2.34 million legal entities are registered in the SME registry. Of these, micro-enterprises account for about 2.14 million, small enterprises — 184 thousand, and medium-sized enterprises — 18 thousand. The number of individual entrepreneurs in the country is almost twice as high — 4.2 million," noted Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov.

"Today, small and medium-sized businesses are full-fledged participants in the national economy, providing import substitution, developing production, and creating new jobs. In 2023, the share of SME loans in the total lending volume reached 21%. For comparison, in 2020 this figure was only 10%. At the same time, the number of SME loans almost doubled (up 72%) and by the end of 2023 accounted for 92% of all loans issued. This indicates that small and medium-sized businesses are striving for development and scaling up," said CEO of the SME Corporation Alexander Isaevich.