Maltese SMEs continue to dominate share of active business units

The total number of active business units grew by 2.2 per cent in 2022 to 58,386 with SMEs continuing to dominate the business landscape.

The National Statistics Office (NSO) recognised the number of active business units by taking note of those which had turnover or employment at any time during the reference period. New business registrations were identified through value-added tax registrations as well as through Malta Business Registry (MBR) new company registrations.

The wholesale, retail trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles sector was the largest and accounted for 17.7 per cent of the active business units. This was followed by the sector involving professional, scientific, and technical activities (13.6 per cent), and construction (9.8 per cent).

Malta had a total of 107 active large businesses units with 250+ workers, and 556 medium active business units with a headcount between 50 and 249. Collectively, they represented 11.3 per cent of all active business units.

Meanwhile, the largest cohort were micro-businesses which contained zero to nine employees, representing 94 per cent of all business units. Small businesses with a headcount between 10 and 49 represented 4.8 per cent of businesses.

In 2022, 69.1 per cent of all active business units were sole proprietors and partnerships. This means that the business unit is either an enterprise owned exclusively by a single person, or it is an association of persons conducting business under a collective name.

Limited liability companies and public liability companies represented 28.6 per cent of all business units, while the rest were a collection of non-profit organisations, cooperatives, corporations, branches, or joint ventures.

The data showed that, out of 58,386 active business units, there were a total of 20,033 employers in Malta, an increase of 5.5 per cent over the previous year. More than half of employers (56 per cent) were limited liability companies or public liability companies, and 41 per cent were sole proprietors and partnerships.