Number of SMEs
New Zealand is predominantly a nation of small firms
Small and medium sized enterprises constitute the majority of all private sector enterprises in New Zealand:
- 85% of enterprises employ 5 or less full time equivalent staff
- 97% of enterprises employ 19 or fewer staff.
Given the large number of SMEs and enterprises not fulfilling the "economically significant" criteria within the agricultural sector (and other omitted industry segments), the contribution that smaller businesses make to the New Zealand economy is even greater than is reflected in these figures.
Figure 2. Number of Enterprises by Size
The number of SMEs increased in 2000...
The number of SMEs increased 9.5 percent in the year to February 2000, following a drop of 0.8 percent in the previous year. This matches the expansion of 9.4 percent in the total number of firms after a drop of 0.7 percent in the year to February 1999.
...although the proportion of SMEs has remained relatively constant
As the expansion in the number of SMEs was only slightly greater than that for enterprises overall, the proportion of firms in the SME sector remained fairly constant from 1999 to 2000, increasing only slightly from 96.3 to 96.5 percent. The number of SMEs increased 9.5 percent in the year to February 2000, following a slight drop of 0.8 percent in the previous year.
Table 1. Annual Percentage Change in Numbers of Enterprises (Years to February)
| | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
|---|
| 0-5 FTEs | 3.7 | 6.0 | 7.4 | -1.2 | 10.0 |
|---|
| 6-9 FTEs | 2.2 | 0.7 | -0.7 | 2.7 | 6.5 |
|---|
| 10-19 FTEs | 1.8 | 1.9 | 3.4 | 2.0 | 5.4 |
|---|
| 20-49 FTEs | 5.7 | 1.8 | -0.4 | 4.4 | 6.0 |
|---|
| 50-99 FTEs | 3.6 | 0.3 | 1.6 | -3.7 | 3.9 |
|---|
| 100+ FTEs | 3.6 | 1.8 | -1.1 | 0.9 | -0.2 |
|---|
| Total | 3.6 | 5.2 | 6.3 | -0.7 | 9.4 |
|---|
Back to Top