SMEs accounted for over 40% of turnover recorded in Ireland and two-thirds of workforce

SMEs accounted for 99.8% of all businesses in the Republic of Ireland in 2022, new figures from the CSO reveal

Large enterprises, those employing more than 250 people, accounted for just 0.2% of all business enterprises but employed 32% of workers, the CSO found.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) accounted for 43% of turnover recorded in 2022, latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) reveals.

Publishing its Business in Ireland summary results on Monday, the agency recorded a total turnover of €1.29trn for 2022, with Gross Value Added (GVA), which measures the value producers add to the goods and services they buy in, reaching €424.2bn.

SMEs accounted for 99.8% of all businesses in the Republic of Ireland in 2022, with enterprises with less than 250 staff members employing more than two thirds of all those working in Ireland. SMEs were also responsible for 41% of GVA in 2022. 

The number of enterprises in the Structural Business Economy was 389,654 with just under 2.3m employed in the year. 

Large enterprises, those employing more than 250 people, accounted for just 0.2% of all business enterprises but employed 32% of workers, the CSO found. These enterprises generated 57% of total turnover and 59% of total GVA in 2022.

In 2022, the Services sector had the largest share of enterprises at 62%, persons employed at 61%, and 47% for both turnover and GVA.

The industry sector had the lowest share of enterprises at just 6% in 2022 but made up the second largest share of GVA at 42% while accounting for a third of total turnover. It also represented 13% of persons employed.

Distribution accounted for 18% of persons employed and 17% of all turnover in 2022, the CSO added. In the same year, Construction accounted for 20% of enterprises and 9% of persons employed.

More than 60% of all enterprises were in the services sector while distribution accounted for a further 13% of enterprises.

Turnover in the services sector accounted for just under 47% of the total turnover, reaching €599bn in 2022, with the CSO saying this was largely driven by the information and communication sector at €305bn of total turnover.