7.71 Million Domestic SMEs... Responsible for 3000 Trillion Won in Sales

Ministry of SMEs and Startups Announces '2021 Basic Statistics on SMEs and Small Business Owners'

The number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in South Korea stands at approximately 7.71 million, accounting for 99.9% of all businesses, with total sales exceeding 3,000 trillion won.

According to the "2021 Basic Statistics on SMEs and Small Business Owners" released by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups on the 24th, the number of SMEs in South Korea was 7,713,895, an increase of 5.9% (427,813 businesses) compared to the previous year. During the same period, the number of employees rose by 3.9% (700,645 people) to 18,492,614, and sales increased by 12.8% (342.5587 trillion won) to 3,017.1248 trillion won.

Small business owners, who make up 95.1% of SMEs, increased by 5.9% (411,105 businesses) compared to the previous year. The number of employees and sales also rose by 4.4% (443,466 people) and 11.9% (123.9698 trillion won), respectively, year-on-year.

Proportion of Small and Medium Enterprises by Industry in Korea as of 2021. (Source: Ministry of SMEs and Startups)

The number of businesses increased in all industries except mining, which decreased by 59 businesses. The industry with the highest growth rate compared to the previous year was the information and communication sector, which grew by 16.7% (24,314 businesses). This was followed by electricity, gas, and steam supply (13.7%), professional, scientific, and technical services (12.8%), and wholesale and retail trade (8.4%). The industry with the largest number of SMEs was wholesale and retail trade, accounting for 25.1% (1,935,153 businesses). Real estate (16.5%) and accommodation and food services (11.3%) also accounted for more than 10% each.

Sales increased across all industries. In 2021, sales in education services, arts, sports, and leisure, and accommodation and food services, which had declined in 2020 due to COVID-19, rose by 25.9%, 18%, and 8.5%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

By region, the number of businesses located in the metropolitan area (Seoul, Gyeonggi, Incheon) was 4,018,058, an increase of 6.6% (248,087 businesses) compared to the previous year. Non-metropolitan areas had 3,695,837 businesses, up 5.1% (179,726 businesses).

By organizational type, sole proprietorships numbered 6,759,330, up 5.4% (347,808 businesses) year-on-year. Corporations increased by 9.1% (80,005 businesses) to 954,565.

By employee size, one-person businesses numbered 5,795,372, an increase of 7.8% (420,382 businesses) compared to the previous year. Businesses with two or more employees increased slightly by 0.4% (7,431 businesses) to 1,918,523. It appears that COVID-19 and the rise in minimum wage have impacted employment reductions among small business owners.

Park Jong-chan, Director of SME Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, stated, "To better understand the status of SMEs, we have refined the industrial classification starting this year," adding, "By providing new data such as sales scale, we will strive to ensure that the basic statistics on SMEs can be utilized in various ways in policy fields going forward."

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