109,000 Newly Established Corporations Last Year... Record High

Manufacturing (3.1%↑) and Services (11.8%↑) Both Increase... 11 Consecutive Years of Growth

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The number of newly established corporations last year reached a record high of 108,874, an increase of 6.7% compared to the previous year. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Park Young-sun) announced on the 10th the trends of newly established corporations including this information.

Newly established corporations have increased for 11 consecutive years since 2009, and notably, both manufacturing and service industries increased compared to the previous year for the first time in four years since 2015. It was found that all age groups, especially the youth, increased evenly across industries and ages without bias. Manufacturing showed a high growth rate among those aged 60 and above, analyzed as an increase in career-based startups suitable for an aging society. Also, the steady growth of the home meal replacement market led the increase in food and beverage manufacturing, driving the overall growth in manufacturing.

By industry, new corporations were established in the order of wholesale and retail trade (23,125, 21.2%), manufacturing (19,547, 18.0%), real estate (14,473, 13.3%), and construction (10,619, 9.8%). The number of newly established manufacturing corporations increased by 3.1% (593) compared to the previous year. Although rubber and chemicals decreased (381, -11.8%), the increase in food and beverage (476, 17.1%) and machinery and metals (151, 3.7%) turned the trend positive.

The number of newly established service corporations was 73,884, an increase of 11.8% (7,778) compared to 2018. The establishment of real estate corporations (4,328, 42.7%) sharply increased in 2019 due to strengthened taxation on multiple homeowners. High value-added service industries such as professional, scientific, and technical services (1,149, 14.8%) saw an increase in new corporations mainly in consulting due to the expansion of the consulting market, and information and communication (554, 6.8%) increased for the second consecutive year, driven by the continuous growth of the ICT industry.

Traditional service industries such as wholesale and retail trade and accommodation and food services also contributed to the overall increase in newly established corporations. Wholesale and retail trade (153, 0.7%) continued a slight increase from the previous year, and accommodation and food services (325, 18.2%) also increased significantly following the rise in foreign tourists, continuing the trend from 2018. Construction also increased by 5.5% (550) compared to the previous year, maintaining its existing growth trend. The relaxation of construction registration standards following the revision of the Enforcement Decree of the Framework Act on the Construction Industry and the increase in construction orders in the fourth quarter led to growth in the second half of the year.

By age group, new corporations were established in the order of people in their 40s (37,164, 34.1%), 50s (28,560, 26.2%), and 30s (22,929, 21.1%), with increases across all age groups including youth (6.9%) and those aged 60 and above (13.8%). Those under 30 showed an increase centered on wholesale and retail trade (383), real estate (146), and information and communication (113), reflecting a growth trend focused on e-commerce and ICT industries preferred by young people. Those aged 60 and above increased mainly in real estate (618), manufacturing (338), and agriculture, forestry, fishery, and mining (291), interpreted as an increase in corporation establishment utilizing assets, skills, and expertise after retirement.

By gender, newly established corporations by women increased by 12.8% (3,326) to 29,225, while those by men increased by 4.6% (3,506) to 79,649. The proportion of women in total newly established corporations rose by 1.4 percentage points to 26.8%. By region, corporate startups increased in the order of Gyeonggi (3,764), Seoul (760), Busan (614), and Incheon (523). Newly established corporations in the metropolitan area (Seoul, Gyeonggi, Incheon) totaled 67,065, accounting for 61.6% of all new corporations, up 0.8 percentage points from the previous year.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that from this year, the statistics on newly established corporations will be unified into startup company trends, which comprehensively cover corporations and individual startups. The startup company trends can be checked monthly on the website and provide insights into startup trends by industry, age, region, gender, and organizational type.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.