Saudi Arabia issued more than 80,000 new SME commercial records in the second quarter of 2025, bringing the total number of active records in the Kingdom to 1.7m, according to the latest SME Monitor report published by the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority (Monsha’at).
The report highlighted key sector developments, with e-commerce records reaching 39,366.
Youth owned 38 per cent of total SME records, while women owned 47 per cent, underlining their growing leadership role in entrepreneurship.
Saudi entrepreneur hotspots
Riyadh Region topped new registrations with 28,181 records (35.2 per cent). Makkah followed with 14,498 records (18.1 per cent), Eastern Region with 12,985 records (16.2 per cent), Qassim with 4,920 (6.2 per cent), while the remaining regions accounted for 19,416 records (24.3 per cent).
Minister of Education Yousef Al-Benyan opened the report by confirming that investment opportunities in the education sector are estimated at more than SR50bn ($13.3bn) by 2030.
He noted that SMEs make up about 98 per cent of educational establishments, with women owning 39.4 per cent of them.
SME enablement programs also continued to expand. In Q2 2025, 3,175 SMEs benefited from the Tomoh Program, with many later listed on the parallel market (Nomu).
The Kafalah Program, launched in 2006 to support SMEs and entrepreneurs, has now delivered SR121bn ($32.3bn) worth of products and initiatives by the end of Q2 2025.
Guarantees provided under the program exceeded SR86.8bn ($23.2bn), supporting 26,095 establishments through 12 financing programs.
Saudi startups raised SR3.225bn ($862m) across 114 deals in H1 2025.
This represents 116 per cent annual growth in deal value and 31 per cent growth in deal volume, accounting for 56 per cent of all venture capital funding in the Middle East and North Africa.
Total funding is projected to exceed SR3.75bn ($1bn) by the end of 2025.
The report also underlined Riyadh’s role as a pivotal economic hub, contributing around 50 per cent of the Kingdom’s non-oil GDP.
More than 600 international companies have established regional headquarters in Riyadh under the government’s headquarters program.
The SME Monitor confirmed that Saudi Arabia’s private sector continues to deliver strong performance, supported by non-oil investments and sustained economic activity.
Monsha’at initiatives — including the Monsha’at Academy, Mazaya Platform, and innovation centres — have supported tens of thousands of entrepreneurs.
The SME Monitor report forms part of a quarterly series aimed at providing investors, policymakers, and entrepreneurs with accurate data and insights on Saudi Arabia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and its future prospects.
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