Based on the latest data published by the Department of Statistics, Malaysia (DOSM), MSMEs accounted for 96.9% (1,101,725 firms) of overall establishments in Malaysia in 2023. There has been an increment of more than 190,000 firms as compared to a total of 907,065 MSMEs in 2015, thus registering an average growth rate of 2.5% per annum during the period.
In terms of breakdown by key economic sectors, the services sector has consistently accounted for more than 80% of all MSMEs throughout the period. For the latest 2023 MSME profile, services sector constituted 83.9%, amounting to 924,170 firms. The construction sector remained to be the second largest contributor at 9.3% (102,657 firms). Meanwhile, about 5.4% of MSMEs (59,316 firms) were involved in the manufacturing sector, followed by 1.2% (13,099 firms) in the agriculture sector, with the remaining 0.2% (2,483 firms) in the mining & quarrying sector.
By business size, majority of the MSMEs were microenterprises, forming 69.7% (767,421 firms) of total MSMEs in Malaysia. Meanwhile, small-sized firms accounted for 28.5% (314,465 firms) and medium-sized firms constituted the balance 1.8% (19,839 firms).
Updated: September 2024
Source: Department of Statistics, Malaysia (DOSM)