Press Statement

Preasráiteas

11 June 2021

Go to release: Business Impact of Brexit on SMEs 2020

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (11 June 2021) published the results of the Business Impact of Brexit on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) Survey.

The online survey was sent to a sample of 8,000 businesses and the information was collected in the first quarter of 2021. The response rate to the survey was 24%. Commenting on the results, Sorcha O’Callaghan, Statistician, said:

"The results show that more than four in ten responding SMEs (42%) report an increase in prices as their biggest Brexit concern for 2021. Almost two-thirds of respondents in the Construction sector (65%) reported an increase in prices as their biggest Brexit concern for 2021.

In the Services sector, 38% of respondents reported that difficulty in transporting goods to/from the UK is their biggest concern, followed by an increase in prices (36%) and a decline in business from UK customers (26%). Almost half (47%) of respondents in Industry reported that transporting goods to/from the UK is their biggest concern.

More than 60% of respondents have taken no steps in preparation for Brexit. Among those that did take steps, 13% of respondents have sought new suppliers and 8% have increased preparedness for new custom procedures/duties.

In all sectors, 5% or less respondents believed that Brexit would have a positive impact on business in 2021. More than half of respondents in the Wholesale & Retail Trade and the Industry sectors believed that Brexit would have a negative impact on business in 2021.

In terms of steps taken to mitigate COVID-19 and Brexit uncertainty, 39% of responding enterprises took no steps. Among those that did, the most common were pausing/cancelling investment (13%), implementing a pay freeze (13%), increasing digitisation (12%) and reducing their work force (11%).

It is important to note that the results presented in the survey represent responding enterprises only and are unweighted."

The CSO wishes to thank respondents for their ongoing participation in the survey.

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