60% of Domestic SMEs Say "This Year's Sales Are Lower Than Last Year's"

Facebook Survey Results

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] About 60% of domestic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) active on Facebook reported that their sales this year are lower than last year. However, about 90% of them did not suspend business activities despite the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). Additionally, only 32% of Korean domestic SMEs had an optimistic outlook on the future economic prospects.

Facebook announced on the 16th that these results came from the 'Future of Business' survey conducted on about 30,000 SMEs across more than 50 countries worldwide.

Among domestic SMEs, about 60% responded that "sales this year are lower than last year" and "they are experiencing difficulties in covering current business operating costs."

Korean SMEs recorded the highest rate globally of continuing operations despite the impact of COVID-19, reaching 90%. Hong Kong (90%) and Japan (88.5%) followed Korea, while Australia (75%) and India (53%) showed relatively lower rates.

Meanwhile, the proportion of those optimistic about future prospects was 32%, ranking near the bottom in the Asia-Pacific region after Japan (14%) and Hong Kong (26%). The immediate challenges ahead were identified globally as lack of demand (47%), cash flow (37%), and unpaid loans (19%). These challenges varied by country, indicating the need for tailored countermeasures.

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