Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) continued to form the backbone of Türkiye’s economy in 2024, accounting for nearly all enterprises operating in the industry and service sectors, according to data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) on Wednesday.

TurkStat reported that 3 million 928 thousand enterprises operating in industry and services were classified as SMEs in 2024, representing 99.6% of the total number of enterprises nationwide. Beyond their numerical dominance, SMEs played a central role in employment, production, exports, and innovation.

SMEs’ Share in Employment and Economic Output

In 2024, SMEs accounted for 68.5% of total employment, 43.5% of personnel costs, 44.1% of turnover, 39.8% of production value, and 41.2% of value added at factor costs, underscoring their critical contribution to Türkiye’s real economy.

According to the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community (NACE Rev.2), 35.1% of SMEs operated in wholesale and retail trade, including the repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles. This was followed by transportation and storage with 15.3%, and the manufacturing sector with 12.1%.

Manufacturing Leads SME Employment

Manufacturing stood out as the sector with the highest share of SME employment. In 2024, 25.4% of SME employment was concentrated in manufacturing. The sector also accounted for 33.5% of personnel costs, 25.5% of turnover, 41.2% of production value, and 34.9% of value added at factor costs among SMEs.

Within manufacturing, 3,790 SMEs operated in the high-technology class, highlighting gradual progress in technology-intensive production, although low-technology manufacturing still predominated.

Technology Levels in Manufacturing SMEs

When classified by technology level, 54.8% of manufacturing SMEs operated in the low-technology segment in 2024, compared with 41.5% among large-scale enterprises.

When manufacturing SMEs are analyzed by size group, micro-scale enterprises are predominantly concentrated in low-technology production, with 56.2% operating in the low-tech segment, 32.1% in medium-low technology, 11.0% in medium-high technology, and only 0.7% engaged in high-technology manufacturing. Small-scale enterprises show a slightly more diversified structure, as 48.3% operate in low-technology manufacturing, 32.7% in medium-low technology, 17.9% in medium-high technology, and 1.1% in high-technology activities. Medium-scale enterprises display the highest technological intensity among SMEs, with 47.7% in low-technology production, 31.0% in medium-low technology, 19.8% in medium-high technology, and 1.5% operating in the high-technology class.

Sharp Rise in Value Added and Personnel Costs

TurkStat data showed a substantial increase in productivity indicators over the past decade. Average value added per employee in SMEs rose from 26 thousand TRY in 2015 to 479 thousand TRY in 2024.

Among SME groups, medium-sized enterprises recorded the highest value added per employee, increasing from 46 thousand TRY in 2015 to 969 thousand TRY in 2024. This figure stood at 558 thousand TRY for small-scale enterprises and 175 thousand TRY for micro-scale enterprises in 2024.

Personnel costs followed a similar upward trend. Average personnel cost per employee in SMEs rose from 17 thousand TRY in 2015 to 253 thousand TRY in 2024. Medium-sized enterprises again led with 439 thousand TRY, followed by small-scale enterprises with 310 thousand TRY and micro-scale enterprises with 121 thousand TRY.

Strong SME Entrepreneurship Dynamics

The SME birth rate continued to reflect strong entrepreneurial activity. In 2024, the enterprise birth rate reached 15.9%, while the share of employment in newly born SMEs was 7.0%.

Micro-scale enterprises recorded the highest birth rate at 17.3%, followed by small-scale enterprises (4.7%) and medium-sized enterprises (4.2%). Micro enterprises also accounted for the largest share of employment in newly established SMEs.

SMEs’ Growing Role in Foreign Trade

SMEs accounted for 29.6% of Türkiye’s total exports and 15.9% of total imports in 2024. Of total exports, micro-scale enterprises contributed 2.4%, small-scale enterprises 10.7%, and medium-scale enterprises 16.5%, while large-scale enterprises accounted for 70.4%.

The export value of SMEs increased from 49 billion US dollars in 2015 to 76 billion US dollars in 2024, while imports rose from 36 billion dollars to 51 billion dollars over the same period.

Nearly 59.4% of SME exports originated from the trade sector, while 34.3% came from industry. On the import side, 65.6% of SME imports were carried out by the trade sector and 25.8% by industry.

Europe Remains Top Export Destination

In 2024, 48.0% of SME exports were directed to European countries, followed by Asia with 34.3%. Similarly, 48.1% of SME imports came from Europe and 42.9% from Asia.

Manufactured goods dominated SME exports, accounting for 91.1% of total SME export value. Leading export products included machinery and equipment not elsewhere classified (12.6%), clothing (10.8%), and textiles (7.5%). On the import side, machinery and equipment (16.0%), basic metals (14.9%), and chemicals (12.5%) were most prominent.

SMEs Drive R&D and Innovation

SMEs also played a significant role in research and development. In 2024, they accounted for 119.15 billion TRY of gross domestic R&D expenditure by financial and non-financial companies, representing 28.8% of total R&D spending.

A total of 203,518 R&D personnel were employed on a full-time equivalent basis, with 43.7% working in SMEs.

Innovation output remained strong, with 1,417 patent applications filed by SMEs in 2024 and 615 patents registered. Small-scale enterprises led in patent applications, while medium-scale enterprises ranked first in patent registrations.

Overall, TurkStat data confirms that SMEs remain the driving force of Türkiye’s economy, underpinning employment, exports, innovation, and entrepreneurship while continuing to expand their contribution to value creation and technological development. (ILKHA)