Defining Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Malaysian SMEs can be grouped into three categories : Micro, Small, or Medium.

These groupings are decided based on EITHER

  • the numbers of people a business employs OR
  • on the total sales or revenue generated by a business in a year.

I. Number of Employees

Based on the number of full-time employees :

  Primary Agriculture Manufacturing (including Agro-Based) & MRS* Services Sector (including ICT**)
Micro Less than 5 employees Less than 5 employees Less than 5 employees
Small Between 5 & 19 employees Between 5 & 50 employees Between 5 & 19 employees
Medium Between 20 & 50 employees Between 51 & 150 employees Between 20 & 50 employees

*MRS : Manufacturing-Related Services
** ICT : Information and Communications Technology

II. Annual Sales Turnover

Based on annual sales turnover :

  Primary Agriculture Manufacturing (including Agro-Based) & MRS* Services Sector (including ICT**)
Micro Less than RM200,000 Less than RM250,000 Less than RM200,000
Small Between RM200,000 & less than RM1 million Between RM250,000 & less than RM10 million Between RM200,000 & less than RM1 million
Medium Between RM1 million & RM5 million Between RM10 million & RM25 million Between RM1 million & RM5 million

*MRS : Manufacturing-Related Services
** ICT : Information and Communications Technology