Peru SME sector faces rising closures and informality

Peru is facing a complex landscape for micro and small enterprises (SMEs). According to data from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática, 89,846 companies were created or reactivated in the second quarter of 2026, a 1.3% increase from the previous year. However, 62,835 businesses ceased operations during the same period, marking an 8.1% rise in closures.

ComexPerú reports a more severe long-term trend, noting that between 2019 and 2025, over 180,000 formal SMEs in the commerce, production, and services sectors disappeared. The commerce sector has been most heavily impacted, losing approximately 100,000 SMEs and seeing a 4.5% increase in informality compared to 2019. This decline in commerce has contributed to an estimated 600 million reduction in annual sales compared to 2019 levels.

While the services sector has seen an increase in annual sales of approximately 11 billion, the total number of SMEs in that sector has fallen to 3.3 million. Experts from Endeavor Perú emphasize that while there is significant talent for entrepreneurship, the country must address barriers such as access to financing, technological integration, and security to ensure businesses become sustainable and competitive.