According to the results of updating the register of SMEs, the number of registered small and medium-sized enterprises in the country exceeded 6.56 million, updating the record since the start of their registration. At the same time, the number of self-employed reached 10.2 million people.
Since the beginning of 2024, last year's trend towards an increase in the number of entrepreneurs has continued: at the end of 2023, the number of SMEs increased by 5.9% compared to 2022.

"At the beginning of 2024, the trend towards an increase in the number of small and medium-sized businesses continued. This suggests that the sector has successfully overcome the consequences of the sanctions shocks of recent years. This was facilitated, among other things, by the implementation of a set of measures to support the SME sector within the framework of the national project "Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises", approved by the President," said Alexander Novak, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.

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 work (5.9%).

_"About 2.34 million legal entities are registered in the register of SMEs, of which micro enterprises account for about 2.14 million units, small enterprises - 184 thousand and medium-sized enterprises - 18 thousand. There are almost twice as many individual entrepreneurs in the country - 4.2 million units," said Maxim Reshetnikov, Minister of Economic Development of Russia.

"Today, small and medium-sized businesses are a full-fledged participant in the national economy, ensuring import substitution, developing production, and creating new jobs. In 2023, the share of loans to SMEs in total lending reached 21%. For comparison, in 2020 this figure was only 10%. At the same time, the number of loans to SMEs increased almost 2 times (by 72%) and at the end of 2023 they accounted for 92% of all loans issued. This suggests that small and medium-sized businesses are striving for development and scaling," said Alexander Isayevich, General Director of the SME Corporation.