Spatial Information Industry Sales Reach 9.339 Trillion KRW... 5.2% Increase Year-on-Year

(Data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 6th that as of the end of 2019, the domestic spatial information industry recorded sales of 9.339 trillion KRW, employed 65,356 people, and consisted of 5,589 businesses.

The spatial information industry is an industry that produces, processes, and distributes numerical maps, cadastral maps, 3D maps, etc. related to the location of objects, or provides services by converging and integrating with other fields.

Since the first survey conducted in 2013, over seven years, the spatial information industry's sales increased by 3.9 trillion KRW, the number of employees increased by 23,000, and the number of businesses increased by 1,100. The average annual growth rates were 8.0%, 6.2%, and 3.2%, respectively.

Total sales in the spatial information industry increased by 459.2 billion KRW (5.2%) compared to 2018, with operating profit margin and net profit margin recorded at 14.0% and 12.7%, respectively. Considering that the overall industry's operating profit margin is 4.2% and net profit margin is 2.7%, these figures are at a high level.

By industry sector, sales in spatial information-related manufacturing, wholesale, and technical services remained similar to the previous year, but publishing and information services, as well as associations and organizations, increased by 17.6% and 11.6%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

The number of employees in the spatial information industry increased by 2,007 (3.2%) compared to the previous year, indicating steady contribution to domestic job creation.

By sector, publishing and information services (12.5%) showed an increase compared to the previous year, which appears to be influenced by new business orders related to smart cities, digital twins, and other related projects contributing to the rise in the number of employees.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport explained that spatial information-related manufacturing, publishing, and information services contributed to the overall increase in sales, employees, and number of businesses in the spatial information industry.

In particular, rapid growth is observed mainly in digital-related sectors such as ▲software development and supply ▲programming, system integration, and other information technology services ▲data processing, database, and online information provision.

Nam Young-woo, Director of the Land Information Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated, "The spatial information industry is expected to grow as a core industry of the Korean New Deal policy," adding, "We will continue to conduct surveys on the spatial information industry, which forms the foundation for industrial development, and actively carry out necessary foundational research to promote industry growth."

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