Tech Startups Surpass 230,000 'All-Time High'...Real Estate Industry Declines by 27.5%

Ministry of SMEs and Startups Announces 2021 Startup Trends
Startup Growth of 5.1% Excluding Real Estate
Recovery in Some Face-to-Face Sectors Like Wholesale and Retail

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Although overall startups decreased last year, technology-based industry startups surpassed 230,000, marking an all-time high due to the online and contactless economy.

According to the startup trends announced by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups on the 23rd, there were 1,417,973 startups last year. This is about 67,000 (4.5%) fewer than the previous year, but excluding real estate, it increased by about 54,000 (5.1%).

Some face-to-face industries showed signs of recovery. Personal service businesses, which saw a decline in startups in 2020 due to social distancing and other quarantine guidelines, increased by 4.0% last year, and wholesale and retail businesses grew by 9.1%, supported by the activation of online shopping.

Due to online and contactless trends, startups in information and communication (24.0%) and professional, scientific, and technical services (19.7%) increased significantly, pushing technology-based industry startups (technology startups) to surpass 230,000 for the first time ever. Technology startups collectively refer to manufacturing and knowledge-based service startups.

On the other hand, accommodation and food service businesses decreased by 3.2%, and real estate businesses fell by 27.5% compared to the previous year.

By age group, startups among youth aged 39 and under increased by 4.3%, while startups among those aged 40 and above decreased due to a sharp decline in real estate startups. Excluding real estate, startups increased across all age groups. In particular, technology startups were active among those aged 40 and above.

Corporate startups increased by 2.9% compared to the previous year, while individual startups decreased by 5.2%. Excluding real estate, corporate and individual startups increased by 2.3% and 5.5%, respectively.

By region, startups decreased in all areas except Gyeonggi (2.0%). Excluding real estate, startups increased in most regions (13 regions), with decreases only in five regions including Gwangju (-0.8%), Jeonbuk (-4.0%), and Jeonnam (-2.3%).

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups evaluates that various startup and venture policies promoted by the government have contributed to the development of the startup ecosystem. Since the ministry's launch in 2017, the government has steadily increased the annual startup support budget of around 600 billion KRW, spending 1.4 trillion KRW last year, more than double the amount in 2017.

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