President of the Union of Small and Medium Industries (UPMI), Wissem Ben Amor, sounded the alarm over the worrying situation of industrial SMEs in Tunisia, calling for an urgent raising of the alert level.
Speaking on Express FM on Monday, September 22, he recalled that SMEs represent 90% of the private economic fabric, employ nearly 70% of the active workforce, and contribute to more than 50% of GDP.
Yet, according to him, more than half of these companies risk disappearing within the next two years if no corrective measures are taken.
The situation is alarming: after a 43% drop in turnover in 2022 and 31% in 2023, the decline could exceed 50% in 2025.
Ben Amor attributes this deterioration largely to the new check code, which has reduced access to bank financing: “Checks used to serve as a guarantee tool for banks, but no alternative has been put in place, which has led to the withdrawal of financing.”
The UPMI president also pointed to a punitive tax system, citing the consumption tax introduced in 2018, which he said was responsible for soaring prices and the disappearance of many products.
He further denounced the removal of tax benefits previously granted to SMEs, in favor of a VAT hike to 19%, including for service companies “which, however, do not even have purchase-related costs.”
To prevent the collapse of the industrial fabric, Ben Amor called for a deep reform of the tax system: lowering the tax rate on services to 7%, reducing VAT to 10% for all companies, and above all broadening the tax base to include the informal sector.
Finally, he urged the authorities to include specific measures in support of SMEs in the 2026 finance bill, stressing that the survival of this entrepreneurial fabric is vital for employment and the economic stability of the country.
