Saudi Arabia: Lending to small, medium, and micro enterprises in Saudi Arabia reached a record SR420.7 billion ($112.18 billion) by the end of the second quarter of 2025, up 37 percent from the same period last year, official data showed.

This represents an increase of more than SR113.3 billion compared with the second quarter of 2024, when SME facilities stood at SR307.4 billion, the Saudi Press Agency reported, citing data from the Saudi Central Bank, also known as SAMA.

On a quarterly basis, SAMA’s monthly statistical bulletin for August reported that lending increased 10 percent from SR383.2 billion at the end of the first quarter, adding SR37.5 billion in new credit.

It also aligns with Vision 2030’s target to increase SME contributions to gross domestic product from 30 percent to 35 percent. With more than 1.8 million SMEs operating in the Kingdom, supporting this sector financially is not just a policy goal but a macroeconomic necessity.

“The bulletin indicated that the facilities provided by the banking sector amounted to SR402.1 billion, constituting about 96 percent of the total facilities, while the facilities provided by the financing companies sector amounted to SR18.6 billion,” the SPA report stated. 

Medium-sized enterprises received the largest share of bank lending, securing SR198.9 billion, about 49 percent of total banking facilities. Small enterprises, meanwhile, dominated the financing companies’ portfolio, with SR8.5 billion, representing 46 percent of that sector’s total.

Overall, medium enterprises led total SME facilities with SR206.4 billion, representing 49 percent, followed by small enterprises at SR154.2 billion, or 37 percent, and micro enterprises at SR60.1 billion, accounting for 14 percent.

According to the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises, medium enterprises are defined as those with revenues between SR40 million and SR200 million or 50–249 employees.