SME Billing Grows 13% in July, Starting Third Quarter High

The Omie Index of Economic Performance of SMEs (IODE-SMEs) showed a growth of 13% in the average financial movement of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in July 2024, compared to the same period of the previous year.In the accumulated of the year, the index shows an increase of 5.6% compared to the same period of 2023. This growth was observed in a widespread way among the major sectors of the economy, especially Industry and Commerce.

Sector Performance:

• Trade: The Commerce sector recorded an increase of 19.4% in revenue in July, reversing the fall of 11.8% observed in the same period of 2023. Growth was driven by wholesale (+24.2% YoY) and the recovery of retail SMEs (+9.1%).
• Industry: The Industry SMEs showed a progress of 18.5% in billing, maintaining the positive trend observed throughout the year. The performance was sustained by activities such as 'Impression and reproduction of recordings ', 'Fabrication of furniture '’, 'Fabrication of pulp, paper and paper products '’ and ' machinery and equipment.
• Services: The Services sector showed good performance in July (+6,2% YoY), after a fall of 1,7% in the previous month. Growth was driven by segments such as (+6,2% YoY), after a fall of 1,7% in the previous month.The delivery activities of the sector were (4, veterinary activities, 3Advertising and market research and ’, 2A accommodation and food and nutrition.
• Infrastructure: Infrastructure SMEs registered growth of 8.6% in July after two consecutive months of decline. The (Specialized services for construction and '’ and 'Collection, treatment and disposal of’ waste were the main responsible for the positive performance.

Felipe Beraldi, economist and manager of Indicators and Economic Studies at Omie, explained that part of the growth is due to the “” calendar, since July 2024 had 23 working days, compared to 21 in the same month of 2023. “For several segments of the SME market, this results in a more robust monthly billing, making the comparison unbalanced”, commented Beraldi.

For a more precise analysis, the average daily movement of accounts receivable of SMEs was considered, which pointed to an expansion of 3.2% in relation to the same period of the previous year, although in a more restrained way than the comparison between the full months measured by the IODE-SMEs.

Beraldi pointed out that the market warming can be attributed to fundamentals of the domestic economy, such as the robustness of the labor market, with unemployment below 7% and an increase in the real average income of workers, sustaining consumption.In addition, the loosening of monetary policy, with Selic falling since August last year, also contributed to the positive result.

“Growth in SME revenue at the beginning of the third quarter confirms the prospect of maintaining growth in the sector during the second half of 2024”, concluded Beraldi.

The IODE-PMEs, which acts as an economic thermometer of companies with revenues of up to R$ 50 million annually, is divided into 701 economic activities within the sectors of Commerce, Industry, Infrastructure and Services, offering a comprehensive and detailed view of the performance of SMEs in Brazil.