Corporate Donations Decreased Due to Recession... Down 6% in One Year

Last Year 1.2 Trillion... FKI Says "Due to Construction and Manufacturing Recession"

Last year, corporate donations decreased by 6% compared to the previous year. This was due to a decline in corporate performance amid the global economic downturn.

Samsung Electronics Hwaseong Plant employees pose for a commemorative photo after making donations through the 'Nanum Kiosk.'
[Photo by Samsung Electronics]

On the 11th, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) analyzed 570 KOSPI-listed companies and found that last year's donation amount was 1.1883 trillion KRW, down 5.7% (71.9 billion KRW) from 1.2602 trillion KRW in 2021.

The number of companies donating over 10 billion KRW decreased to 23, down by 4 from 27 in 2021. The FKI stated, "The number of high-value donors declined due to poor performance in the construction and manufacturing sectors."

The proportion of donations relative to operating profit increased. Donations per 10 billion KRW of operating profit rose by 47.4% to 171 million KRW last year, compared to 116 million KRW in 2021. The FKI noted, "The significance lies more in the ratio of donations to operating profit than in the absolute donation amount."

Although operating profits decreased, many companies actually increased their donations. Among the 570 surveyed companies, 234 (41.1%) saw their operating profits decline compared to the previous year. The operating profit of these 234 companies dropped by 87.8% to 8.5 trillion KRW from 69.6 trillion KRW in 2021. However, 124 of these companies (53%) increased their donations. The donations from these 124 companies rose by 30.2% to 383.3 billion KRW from 294.3 billion KRW in 2021.

Between 2020 and 2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic, 142 companies (24.9%) increased their donations. Donations from these 142 companies grew by 117.4%, from 122.2 billion KRW in 2020 to 265.7 billion KRW last year.

Lee Sang-yoon, head of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) at the FKI, said, "As the importance of corporate CSR grows, the culture of corporate donations is also spreading. To increase corporate donations, not only economic revitalization but also significant social interest and support are necessary."

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