Only 16 Korean Companies in Fortune Global 500... A Meager Report Card
"Need to Ensure Industrial Diversity"
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] Although 16 Korean companies including Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK, and LG Electronics were included in the Fortune Global 500, Korea's competitiveness was found to be inferior to major countries in all aspects such as the number of companies, scale, and industries entered. There are calls for urgent deregulation of discriminatory measures against companies.
On the 22nd, the Federation of Korean Industries analyzed the country-wise status of the '2022 Fortune Global 500' and found that Korean companies accounted for only 16 (3.2%). Chinese companies were the most with 136 (27.2%), followed by American companies with 124 (24.8%), with US and Chinese companies accounting for 52.0% of the total.
In terms of sales, American companies led with $1.12 trillion and an average sales per company of $90.46 billion, surpassing China ($1.1 trillion, $80.98 billion per company). The total sales of Korean companies selected for the Global 500 amounted to $996.2 billion, with an average sales per company of $62.39 billion, the lowest among major countries (G5 and China).
Among the 21 industries classified in the Global 500, the US was found to be present in 19 industries, showing the most diverse industry participation. This was followed by China with 15, Japan and France each with 13, Germany with 11, and the UK with 8. In contrast, Korean companies were present in only 8 industries. Twelve companies (75.0%) were concentrated in the four major industries of electronics/semiconductors, finance, automobiles, and energy. There was not a single Korean Fortune Global 500 company engaged in new industries such as aerospace or healthcare.
The number of industries Korean companies have entered has not changed significantly since the Global 500 began classifying industries in 2015. At that time, Korean companies were also distributed across 8 industries in the Fortune Global 500, maintaining 6 to 8 industries annually.
Analysis of the performance of Korea’s export-leading industries and the global number one companies also revealed the inferiority of Korean companies. In the four industries of electronics/semiconductors, automobiles, materials/metals, and chemicals, the annual sales of the global number one companies were 1.5 to 4.6 times higher than those of the top domestic companies.
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Yoo Hwan-ik, head of the Industry Division at the Federation of Korean Industries, said, “High-level regulations on Korean companies not only weaken competitiveness in existing industries but also make it difficult to find companies succeeding in new industries, which is very regrettable.” He emphasized, “It is necessary to ease discriminatory regulations on large companies to nurture companies that can represent Korea in the global market.”
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