Online Shopping Increased by 320,000 in 5 Years... Business Duration Shortest at 2 Years and 7 Months

National Tax Service Analyzes Data of Top 100 Lifestyle Businesses Over the Past 5 Years
Online Retail Up 148.4%, Pension & Guesthouse Up 115.2%, Coffee Shops Up 80.0%
Psychiatric Hospitals Increase 29% Due to Psychological Difficulties from COVID-19

Online shopping increased by more than 320,000 over five years, showing the steepest growth among the top 100 daily life industries. However, the average business survival period was the shortest at 2 years and 7 months.

On the 9th, the National Tax Service (NTS) disclosed the results of an analysis of business operator data for the top 100 daily life industries over the past five years (2018?2022).

The NTS has been selecting 100 industries closely related to citizens' daily lives since November 2017 and publicly releasing the number of business operators by city, county, and district every month.

According to this, as of the end of 2022, the number of business operators in the top 100 daily life industries was 2,923,000, showing an increasing trend every year over the past five years (2018?2022). This is a 28.0% increase compared to 2,284,000 at the end of 2018. By industry, Korean food specialty restaurants had the most operators until 2020, but from 2021, communication sales (online shopping) took the top spot.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

By industry, online shopping, i.e., communication sales, increased by 324,472 (148.4%) from 218,616 in 2018 to 543,088 in 2022. Next were pensions and guesthouses (115.2%) and coffee beverage shops (80.0%) in terms of growth rate. An NTS official explained, "The steady growth of e-commerce (online platforms) and low startup costs have contributed to the continuous increase," adding, "The spread of the non-face-to-face economy due to COVID-19 recently accelerated the growth rate, making it the highest among the top 100 daily life industries. Meanwhile, offline stores handling similar items, such as clothing stores (1.2%) and shoe stores (-9.8%), are stagnating or declining."

As of the end of 2022, the average business survival period for the top 100 daily life industries was 8 years and 9 months. By industry, tobacco shops (17 years and 11 months), barbershops (16 years), and watch and jewelry stores (15 years and 11 months) had the longest survival periods. In contrast, communication sales, which showed the steepest growth, had the shortest average business survival period at 2 years and 7 months. Coffee beverage shops (3 years and 1 month) and sports facility operations (3 years and 6 months) followed.

All of the top 10 industries with the highest growth rates over the past five years (2018?2022), including communication sales, pensions and guesthouses, coffee beverage shops, and skin care services, had business survival periods below the average (8 years and 9 months). This means that despite rapid growth, many closed quickly.

Among hospitals and clinics, the psychiatric department had the highest growth rate (29.0%). The NTS analyzed this as a result of a steady increase in patients experiencing stress and depression, which are representative mental health issues of modern people, as well as employment problems among young people, anxiety about the future, and psychological difficulties caused by COVID-19. In contrast, traditional Korean medicine hospitals and clinics (3.4%), general hospitals (3.9%), and internal medicine and pediatrics (4.5%) showed lower growth rates.

With the popularization of golf and increasing demand, indoor screen golf centers, which serve as substitutes for outdoor golf (practice) ranges by allowing golf to be enjoyed at low cost regardless of the season, increased by 70.1% compared to 2018. Meanwhile, outdoor golf practice ranges have been steadily decreasing (-8.7%).

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