Number of SMEs
New Zealand is predominantly a nation of small firms
Small and medium sized enterprises constitute the majority of all enterprises in New Zealand:
- 86.0% of enterprises employ 5 or fewer full time equivalent staff
- 96.8% of enterprises employ 19 or fewer full time equivalent staff.
Given the large number of SMEs and enterprises not fulfilling the "economically significant" criteria within the agricultural sector (omitted from this report), the contribution that small businesses make to the New Zealand economy is even greater than is reflected in these figures.
Figure 2: Number of Enterprises by Size, as at February 2002
| FTE Size Category | No. of Enterprises |
| 0-5 | 242,078 |
| 6-9 | 18,255 |
| 10-14 | 8,286 |
| 15-19 | 3,756 |
| 20-49 | 6,090 |
| 50-99 | 1,536 |
| 100+ | 1,337 |
The number of SMEs increased in 2002...
The number of SMEs increased 2.7 percent between 2001 and 2002, following a decrease of 0.4 percent between 2000 and 2001. This is similar to the movements in number of firms of all sizes over the same periods.
...although the proportion of SMEs has remained relatively constant
As the increase in the number of SMEs was equal to that for enterprises overall, the proportion of firms in the SME sector remained constant at 96.8 percent between 2001 and 2002.
Figure 3: Cumulative Enterprise Count by FTE Size Category, as at February 2002
| FTE Size Category | No. of Enterprises |
| 5 or less | 242,078 |
| 9 or less | 260,333 |
| 14 or less | 268,619 |
| 19 or less | 272,375 |
| 49 or less | 278,465 |
| 99 or less | 280,001 |
| all enterprises | 281,338 |
Table 1: Annual Percentage Change in Numbers of Enterprises (as at February 2002)
| | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
| 0-5 FTEs | 9.9 | 0.9 | 10.7 | -0.6 | 2.7 |
| 6-9 FTEs | 0.1 | 3.1 | 5.9 | 1.7 | 3.0 |
| 10 - 19 FTEs | 3.9 | 2.4 | 5.0 | 1.2 | 2.8 |
| 20 - 49 FTEs | 0.0 | 4.6 | 5.7 | 0.6 | 1.8 |
| 50 - 99 FTEs | 2.1 | -3.0 | 4.7 | -1.3 | 6.4 |
| 100 + FTEs | -0.2 | 1.6 | -0.1 | 3.2 | 3.0 |
| Total | 8.6 | 1.2 | 9.9 | -0.3 | 2.7 |
Back to Top