In recent years, European SMEs have faced significant challenges, including a global pandemic, global supply chain disruptions, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and surging energy costs. Despite these challenges, the SME Performance Review, used by the European Commission to monitor and assess countries’ progress in implementing SME policies, has proved the resilience of SMEs and their key role as drivers behind the EU’s economic growth. 

As the rotating president of the Council of the EU, Hungary will host the SME Assembly 2024 in Budapest from November 18 to 20. Hungarian SMEs continued to recover, including an increase in employment of 0.2% and the number of micro, small, and medium sized enterprises rising by 0.9%. It is projected that SME employment will continue to grow in 2024, by an estimated 0.6%. 

Despite medium enterprises dropping by 0.6%, micro and small enterprises experienced growth of 0.6% and 0.1% respectively. The SME value added in the ecosystem grew by an impressive 11.9%.

Read the report here. 

To discover more about the role that SMEs can play in Europe’s green and digital transitions, stay tuned for more updates on the 2024 SME Assembly!  

Please note that growth and value added forecasts are not adjusted for inflation.