Muscat: Active private enterprises grew by 11.2% in the fourth quarter of 2024, reaching 267,734 businesses—up from 240,765 during the same period in 2023, according to the National Center for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

The growth was driven largely by a boom in micro-enterprises, which surged 14% to 234,979, compared to 206,059 in the previous year. However, the data also revealed a 6% drop in small enterprises, which declined to 30,163, and a 2% dip in medium-sized enterprises, which stood at 1,867. Large enterprises saw a modest increase of 1.3%, rising to 725 from 716.

Despite the rise in business activity, the total number of employees in private establishments fell slightly by 0.9%, dropping to 1,806,518 workers from 1,823,660 in Q4 2023.

Large enterprises saw a 0.7% decline in employment to 432,452 workers.

Medium-sized enterprises recorded a 2.5% drop to 151,846 workers.

Small enterprises experienced the sharpest decline at 6.5%, employing 537,313 workers.

In contrast, micro-enterprises added to the workforce, with a 4.1% increase to 684,907 employees.