Women-Owned Businesses Improve 'Profitability, Stability, and Activity'... Strength Lies in 'Delicacy'

Announcement of 'Survey Results on Women Entrepreneurs' on the 27th
The Most Needed Support for Growth Is 'Financial Assistance'

In 2022, the management indicators of domestic women-owned businesses, including profitability, stability, and activity, showed improvement compared to the previous year.

Photo by Ministry of SMEs and Startups

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced the results of the "2023 Women-Owned Business Survey (based on 2022 data)" on the 27th.

The net profit margin of women-owned businesses increased from 4.7% in 2021 to 5.1% in 2022, indicating improved profitability. During the same period, the debt ratio decreased from 165.1% to 135.2%, and the equity turnover rate rose from 2.1 times to 2.2 times, reflecting enhanced stability and activity. However, the average sales per person declined from 232 million KRW to 205 million KRW.

In the case of women-owned small and medium manufacturing enterprises, profitability, stability, and activity were all higher compared to general small and medium manufacturing enterprises. Women-owned small and medium manufacturing enterprises showed profitability of 4.3%, stability of 106.6%, and activity of 2.4 times, whereas general small and medium manufacturing enterprises had profitability of 4.1%, stability of 125.2%, and activity of 2.2 times.

Both exports and research and development (R&D) investment expanded compared to the previous year. The export-to-sales ratio of women-owned businesses rose by 0.3 percentage points to 2.6%, and the experience of R&D investment increased by 1 percentage point to 4.3%.

The top strength perceived by women entrepreneurs was "meticulousness." Compared to the previous year, "leadership" increased by 7.1 percentage points, and "integrity" rose by 9.8 percentage points. The top weakness identified was "challenging spirit."

The area where women entrepreneurs were most disadvantaged compared to male entrepreneurs was "burden of balancing work and family" (39.6%). The percentage of women entrepreneurs who felt restricted participation due to male-dominated networks increased from 16.6% in 2021 to 26.6% in 2022.

The most needed support for women-owned businesses to grow was financial support (40.9%), followed by manpower support (20.0%), tax support (19.4%), and market access support (12.4%).

Only 8.8% of companies had experience supplying to government agencies through public procurement. Among them, 85.9% responded that it was helpful.

The main factors affecting business activities were "overall economic downturn leading to decreased demand" at 54.6%, followed by "increased costs such as labor and raw materials" (39.3%), and "intensified competition among companies" (37.7%).

Park Jong-chan, Director of SME Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "The role of women-owned businesses will become increasingly important for revitalizing our economy. We will carefully analyze the results of the women-owned business survey and establish policies to create an environment where women can manage businesses more easily."

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