Last Year's Seed Sales Amounted to 650.5 Billion Won... 9.9% Increase Compared to 2017

National Seed Management Office Announces Results of 'Seed Industry Status Survey'

12,000 Workers in the Industry... 56.3% Are Regular Employees

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Last year, the seed industry’s sales performance reached 650.5 billion KRW, marking a 9.9% increase compared to 2017. The number of industry workers rose by 5.4% to 12,299 during the same period.

On the 31st, the National Seed Management Office announced the results of the "Seed Industry Status Survey." The survey covered 1,652 registered seed companies actively operating as of the end of last year, along with 89 public institutions.

As of the end of last year, the seed sales amount for surveyed companies was 650.5 billion KRW (excluding 86.2 billion KRW from public institutions). This represents a 9.9% increase from 591.9 billion KRW in 2017, continuing the growth trend since 2015. Domestic sales accounted for 86.4% (592.1 billion KRW) of the total, while export sales made up 13.4% (87.2 billion KRW). Overseas production and sales amounted to 1.2 billion KRW (0.2%). Small-scale companies with sales under 500 million KRW comprised 89.4% (1,452 companies) of the total. Medium-small companies with sales between 500 million and 1.5 billion KRW accounted for 5.5% (90 companies), medium-sized companies with sales between 1.5 billion and 4 billion KRW made up 3.3% (54 companies), and large companies with sales over 4 billion KRW represented 1.8% (29 companies). By category, vegetable seeds accounted for 62.5% (406.9 billion KRW) of total sales, followed by fruit trees at 10.7% (69.8 billion KRW), mushrooms at 10% (65.3 billion KRW), and flowers at 7.2% (47.1 billion KRW).

The total number of workers last year was 12,299, a 5.4% increase from 2017. Regular employees made up 56.3% (6,930 people). Temporary and daily workers accounted for 24.5% (3,009 people), self-employed 9.1% (1,123 people), unpaid family workers 7.9% (975 people), and other workers 2.1% (262 people). The number of regular employees decreased by 6.8% (507 people) from 7,437 in 2017. The National Seed Management Office explained this as an impact of the economic downturn caused by COVID-19. Research and development (R&D) breeding personnel, including genetic analysis staff, increased by 30.2% to 1,682 from 1,292 in 2017, but the number of companies with breeding achievements dropped by 18.8% to 299 from 368 in 2017. Investment also decreased by 15.3%, from 82.1 billion KRW to 69.5 billion KRW. Export value rose by 26.7% to 87.2 billion KRW compared to 68.8 billion KRW in 2017. The average export amount per company was 1.15 billion KRW, an 11.8% increase over the same period.

The areas where companies most hoped for government support were 'operating fund support' at 39.2%, followed by 'facility modernization support' at 32.4%, 'facility and research equipment rental and shared use' at 9.4%, and 'seed breeding-related technical education' at 7.0%.

Kim Cheolsun, head of the Seed Industry Support Division at the National Seed Management Office, said, "Including this 'Seed Industry Status Survey,' we have conducted four surveys to provide basic data that can help us understand changes in the seed industry." He added, "Next year, we plan to conduct a 'Seedling Industry Status Survey.'" Detailed results of this seed industry status survey can be found on the National Seed Management Office website and the National Statistics Portal.

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