According to the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Statistics released by TurkStat, the share of SMEs in total turnover and exports is gradually declining. SMEs constitute 99.7 percent of all enterprises in Turkey.
While in 2013, SMEs accounted for 63.8 percent of total turnover, this ratio dropped to 42.5 percent in 2022. Looking at the foreign trade performance, while small and medium-sized enterprises realized 59.2 percent of exports in 2013, this rate decreased to 31.6 percent in 2022.
In Turkey, SMEs are defined as enterprises that employ less than 250 people annually and whose annual net sales revenue or financial balance sheet does not exceed TRY 250 million.
SMEs’ share in value-added also in decline
An analysis of the Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Statistics announced by TurkStat by years shows that 3 million 773 thousand enterprises operating in the industry and service sectors were classified as SMEs in 2022. This number was 2 million 695 thousand 131 in 2013. While SMEs constituted 99.7 percent of the total number of enterprises in 2022, these enterprises accounted for 70.6 percent of employment, 47.5 percent of personnel cost, 42.5 percent of turnover and 36.4 percent of value added at factor cost. 10 years ago, SMEs, which constituted 99.8 percent of total enterprises in 2013, accounted for 74.2 percent of employment, 54.7 percent of salaries and wages, 63.8 percent of turnover and 52.8 percent of value added at factor cost. While the share of SMEs in employment did not undergo a significant change in the said period, it points to a weakening in turnover and value-added created. In the last 10 years, the total share of SMEs in turnover declined by 21.3 points. This share was 50.4 percent in 2019, 49.4 percent in 2020 and 44 percent in 2021. In addition, the decline in the share of SMEs in value added at factor cost in the 2013-2022 period is calculated as 16.4 points.
‘Big companies’ overtake SMEs in exports
A similar gradual decline in the share of SMEs in total turnover is also observed in foreign trade performance. Accordingly, SMEs accounted for 31.6 percent of total exports and 15.4 percent of imports in 2022. In 2013, SMEs accounted for 59.2 percent of exports and 39.9 percent of imports. Thus, between 2013 and 2022, the share of SMEs in total exports will decrease by 27.6 percentage points. In terms of value, the export value of SMEs increased from USD 57 billion in 2013 to USD 79 billion in 2022. The value of imports, which was USD 48 billion in 2013, increased to USD 53 billion in 2022. While in 2013, the share of microscale enterprises in total exports was 17.8 percent, this rate drops to 2.4 percent in 2022. Again, the share of small-scale enterprises, which was 24.1 percent in 2013, drops to 11.9 percent in 2022. The share of medium-sized enterprises, which was 17.3 percent in 2013, remains unchanged in 2022. It is noteworthy that the share of large-scale enterprises increased significantly in 10 years, rising from 40.7 percent in 2013 to 68.4 percent in 2022.
Limited improvement in technology use
When SMEs in the manufacturing industry are classified according to their technology level, it is seen that 56.4 percent of them produce in the low technology class. Considering that this rate was 60.8 percent in 2013, it is seen that there has been a limited improvement in SMEs in terms of technology utilization in the last 10 years. On the other hand, when analyzed by size groups, 57.5 percent of microscale enterprises produced in the low technology class, 31.8 percent in the medium-low technology class, 10.1 percent in the medium-high technology class and 0.6 percent in the high technology class in 2022. On the other hand, while these rates were 51 percent, 30.6 percent, 17.4 percent and 1 percent, respectively, in small-scale enterprises, these rates were 51 percent, 28.7 percent, 18.8 percent and 1.5 percent in medium-scale enterprises.
Personnel cost per employee reached TRY 69,000
In the latest Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Statistics 2022 data released by TurkStat, the average personnel cost per employee in SME enterprises was also shared. Accordingly, while the average personnel cost per SME employee was TRY 8,000 in 2009, this amount increased to TRY 69,000 in 2022. Among SME groups, medium-sized enterprises had the highest increase in personnel costs. Personnel costs per employee in these enterprises increased from TRY 15,000 to TRY 120,000 between 2009 and 2022. For the same years, personnel costs increased from TRY 11,000 to TRY 87,000 in small-scale enterprises and from TRY 4,000 to TRY 36,000 in microscale enterprises.
