Small companies in Brazil benefit 40% of the population, points out Sebrae

According to a survey carried out by Sebrae, the people benefited by small businesses in Brazil exceed the population of countries such as France, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Argentina. According to the agency’s estimates, 86.5 million of individuals directly or indirectly affected, equivalent to 40.4% of the Brazilian population.

The importance of businesses was analyzed from the total of all small businesses with active registration with the Federal Revenue Service of Brazil on December 9, 2021. The survey took into account the number of owners of these businesses, their employees and their families.

As disclosed by Sebrae, small and micro companies are the ones that grow the most and create job vacancies in the country. In March of this year, 88.9% of all job openings in Brazil were created by these businesses, that is, 9 out of 10 jobs. There were more than 1 million admissions and 955,088 dismissals, generating a positive balance of 121 thousand jobs in the small business segment.

Also according to the survey, the retail trade of clothing and accessories was responsible for the largest number of open individual micro-entrepreneurs, with the registration of 203,804 MEIs. Then there are sales and hairdressing promotions (175,442), manicures and pedicures (134,391).

In relation to micro-enterprises opened in 2021, combined office and administrative support services were the ones that had the most businesses opened (27,771). Following are retail sales of clothing and accessories (19,813) and outpatient medical activity restricted to medical consultations (16,934).

Closing the ranking, among the activities with the highest number of small businesses opened last year, combined office and administrative support services (4,057) appear in first place. Next come the construction of buildings (3,261) and retail sales of clothing and accessories (3,235).

Sebrae also found that, in 2021, 29.5% (R$ 1.1 trillion) of the Brazilian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) comes from small businesses in the country. They are responsible for 54% of all formal jobs.

For the president of Sebrae, Carlos Melles, the role in the generation of employment by small businesses confirms that entrepreneurship has been seen as an alternative way of income, both for Brazilians who lost their jobs and for those who, despite adverse situations, decided to take from paper the dream of entrepreneurship.

“Sebrae has been working more and more to give visibility to and support millions of Brazilians who are looking to create their own businesses, because we know that the way out for the recovery of the economy and job creation passes – necessarily – through micro and small companies and through individual micro-entrepreneurs”, he commented.