MIPYME stands for Micro, Pequeña y Mediana Empresa (micro, small and medium business). In Guatemala a business’s size is defined by Acuerdo Gubernativo 211-2015, using two variables: the number of workers and annual sales expressed in minimum wages. Inside the Ministerio de Economía (MINECO), the Viceministerio de Desarrollo de la MIPYME serves this sector.

Quick summary: A microempresa has 1 to 10 workers and annual sales of up to 190 minimum wages; a pequeña empresa 11 to 80 workers and up to 3,700; a mediana empresa 81 to 200 workers and up to 15,420 (MINECO’s MIPYME policy). If a business falls into two categories, the sales criterion decides. On the MINECO pages we checked on 8 October 2026 we found no MIPYME registration procedure with a form, certificate or code; the registrations a business does need are with the Registro Mercantil and SAT.

Who Qualifies as a MIPYME?

MINECO’s Política Nacional para el Desarrollo de la MIPYME 2024-2032 summarises Acuerdo Gubernativo 211-2015 as follows:

ClassificationWorkersMaximum annual sales (minimum wages)2026 equivalent, circunscripción 12026 equivalent, circunscripción 2
Microempresa1-10190up to Q760,433up to Q725,211
Pequeña empresa11-803,700up to Q14,808,436up to Q14,122,530
Mediana empresa81-20015,420up to Q61,715,158up to Q58,856,598

INE’s leaflet on the national MIPYME information system (base year 2015) adds that the acuerdo is dated 21 September 2015 and that sales are expressed in minimum wages for non-agricultural activities. Because sales are indexed to the minimum wage rather than fixed in quetzales, the equivalents move every year. For 2026 there are two non-agricultural monthly minimum wages: Q4,002.28 in economic circunscripción 1 (the municipalities of Guatemala department) and Q3,816.90 in circunscripción 2, per EY’s summary of Acuerdo Gubernativo 256-2025. The sources we checked do not say which one applies to the MIPYME classification, so we show both. The equivalents use the monthly minimum wage alone, without the Q250 bonificación incentivo that EY lists next to it; INE and MINECO speak only of minimum wages for non-agricultural activities.

If a business qualifies in two categories, the sales criterion decides, per INE and MINECO’s MIPYME policy. Anything above the mediana ceilings is outside the MIPYME definition.

Is There a MIPYME Registration at MINECO?

This page used to describe a free MIPYME registration at MINECO with a form, a certificate and a MIPYME code, a 1-2 week turnaround and regional offices. We found no source for any of it: the Viceministerio de Desarrollo de la MIPYME page, checked 8 October 2026, lists no such procedure, so we removed the steps. If a lender or a government buyer asks you for a MIPYME certificate, ask them exactly which document they need and confirm it with MINECO.

The registrations a formal business does need are different:

What MINECO’s MIPYME Vice-Ministry Publishes

Per the Viceministerio de Desarrollo de la MIPYME page (read 8 October 2026), it works to support MIPYMEs that produce goods or provide services and make them more competitive, and it is split into two directorates. Its listed units are:

  • Servicios de Desarrollo Empresarial (business development services)
  • Servicios Financieros Empresariales (business financial services, with pages for the CREDIMIPYME and CREDIMUJER programmes)
  • Registro de entes de microfinanzas sin fines de lucro (registry of non-profit microfinance entities)
  • Programa de Apoyo a la Mejora de la Competitividad y Capacidad de MIPYMEs y Cooperativas (competitiveness support programme)

The programme pages showed no requirements, rates or amounts in the text we captured; ask MINECO directly.

MINECO’s MIPYME policy describes the vice-ministry’s structure under Acuerdo Gubernativo 211-2019: the business financial services directorate (financial programmes and projects, trust management, and the non-profit microfinance registry) and the business development services directorate, which includes a department coordinating with MIPYME and entrepreneurship service centres (Centros de Atención MIPYME y de Emprendimiento). Among its lines of work, the policy mentions a national state procurement programme (MIPYME proveedora del Estado).

MINECO contact: 8a Avenida 10-43, zona 1, Guatemala City; Monday to Friday 8:00-16:00; phone 2412-0200 (per its website, 8 October 2026).

What We Removed From This Page

On 8 October 2026 we removed these claims because we found no published source:

  • Lists of banks offering preferential credit to registered MIPYMEs, and the claim of rates 2-5 points below market.
  • Priority or subsidised INTECAP enrolment for registered MIPYMEs.
  • Preferential AGEXPORT memberships and export consulting tied to MIPYME status.
  • Reserved MIPYME quotas in government procurement (MINECO’s policy mentions a state procurement programme, but no quotas).
  • Simplified IGSS compliance for businesses under 10 employees.
  • Innovation, digital-transformation and software subsidies tied to registration.
  • The 1-2 week turnaround, the supporting-document list and the annual update requirement.

Other Options to Look At

These do not depend on any MIPYME registration:

  • Pequeño Contribuyente regime at SAT.
  • Sociedad de Emprendimiento (Decreto 20-2018): Article 1040 of the Código de Comercio, in the text that decree introduced, set a cap of Q5,000,000 in total annual income and requires that amount to be updated every 1 January, so confirm the current cap. See the Sociedad de Emprendimiento guide.

Classification checked 8 October 2026 against MINECO’s Política Nacional para el Desarrollo de la MIPYME 2024-2032 and INE’s MIPYME leaflet; 2026 minimum wages per EY’s summary of Acuerdo Gubernativo 256-2025. Confirm any programme or requirement with MINECO before applying.