Sales of Peruvian micro, small and medium-sized companies plummeted 33% until June

The turnover of micro, small and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs) in Peru fell, during the first half of 2024, by almost a third of what was achieved in the same period of 2023, and only microbusinesses, the largest and most unstable link in This chain reached positive figures.

According to the report “Latin America undertakes: an analysis of MSMEs in the region 2024”, prepared by Alegra.com, the turnover of Peruvian MSMEs decreased by 32.51% in the first six months of the year compared to a similar previous period, explained because the registration of small and medium-sized companies fell by 59.57% and 37.41%, respectively.

In contrast, microbusinesses, which reach 92% of Peru’s business fabric, recorded a solid advance of 46.26% in their turnover.

In itself, the base scenario was already bad. If we compare the turnover of medium-sized companies in the first half of 2023 compared to the similar period in 2022, we can see a drop of -53.54%. In the case of small companies, a growth of +22.56% was achieved, even higher than the 3.94% recorded by microenterprises.

However, the global drop in MSMEs in the first half of 2023 was -33.58%, a setback leveraged by medium-sized companies that could today explain the high business mortality in our country.

Being young and entrepreneurship in Peru: subsistence economy?

People between 18 and 34 years old constitute more than half of the entrepreneurs in Peru, with 54.3%. According to Alegra.com, this reflects a “strong inclination towards entrepreneurship among youth and young adults, a figure that has grown by 3.6% since 2023.”

Furthermore, our country shows notable diversity in business sectors. Commerce in the first half led with 34.74%, followed by professional services with 14.44%. Gastronomy and technology also have a significant presence, with 8.87% and 9.47% respectively.

The data

• In Peru, a subdivision is made when talking about MSMEs; for this, microenterprises are considered to be those that have between 1 and 10 employees, small companies have between 11 and 50 employees, and medium-sized companies employ from 51 to 50 employees. 250 people.
• In Peru, microbusinesses clearly predominate, constituting 91.38% of the total, reflecting a business environment in which the majority of entrepreneurs operate on a very small scale. On the other hand, small companies represent 7.76% and medium-sized companies only 0.86%.