Number of Taiwanese SMEs hits record high in 2012

The number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Taiwan reached an all-time high of 1.3 million in 2012, accounting for 97.6 percent of total firms nationwide, the Taiwanese government reported over the weekend.

The figure represents a 2.1 percent increase from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Those SMEs saw their sales total US$379.3 billion last year, up 1.38 percent from the previous year.

The number of employees at the SMEs accounted for 78.1 percent, or 8.48 million of the total employment, according to the report.

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com