According to the latest NSO statistics, small and medium-sized enterprises strengthened their position in Malta’s non-financial business economy during 2024, generating 56.1% of its total value added, compared with 52.6% in the previous year.
The non-financial business economy generated €14.8 billion in value added during 2024, an increase of 9.2% over the €13.5 billion recorded in 2023. This consisted of €8.5 billion in gross operating surplus, or profits, and €6.3 billion in employee benefits.
Growth was driven mainly by SMEs, whose value added increased by 14.5%, compared with growth of just 3.1% among large enterprises. This marks a significant reversal from 2023, when SMEs registered growth of 7.3% while large enterprises expanded their value added by 26.4%.
Medium-sized enterprises recorded the strongest growth among SMEs in 2024, with their value added increasing by 19.5%. In 2023, micro-enterprises had led SME growth with an increase of 8.9%.
Construction remained the sector most heavily dominated by SMEs, which generated 86.4% of the sector’s value added, up from 84% in 2023. SMEs generated a larger share of value added than large enterprises in every sector except industry and gambling and betting activities.
The strongest sectoral growth also shifted during the year. Community well-being services registered the largest increase in value added, at 17.3%, while wholesale and retail trade recorded the largest increase in net turnover, at €1.9 billion. In 2023, technological and business-support activities had registered the strongest value-added growth, while mobility, logistics and hospitality had led turnover gains.
Despite the increased dominance of SMEs, large enterprises continued to generate the largest share of net turnover, output and investment in tangible assets. The technological, professional and business-support sector remained the largest domain, generating €5.3 billion in value added during 2024.
Newsroom
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