Small Business Owners' Annual Operating Profit Halved to 48 Million Won... Downsizing Stores to Endure
Results of the "2025 Commercial Building Lease Status Survey"
Average Monthly Rent at 1.12 Million Won, Sales Also Plummet
The annual operating profit of small business tenants in domestic commercial buildings has plummeted to the 40 million won range.
According to the "2025 Commercial Building Lease Status Survey" released by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Small Enterprise and Market Service on May 17, the average operating profit of small business tenants in 2024 was 48 million won, a sharp decrease from the previous survey's 82 million won. Their average sales also dropped by 147 million won to 212 million won. Additionally, 27.3% of these tenants carried debt, with the average outstanding amount reaching 144 million won.
As the recession deepened, small business owners reduced the size of their stores to cut costs. The average leased area for tenants dropped significantly from 127.7 square meters to 99.1 square meters. With the decrease in store size, the average monthly rent paid also fell by 120,000 won to 1.12 million won compared to the previous survey. By region, the average monthly rent was highest in Seoul at 1.58 million won, and lowest in Jeonnam at 490,000 won.
The oversaturation of local commercial districts has also reached a serious level. 31.2% of respondents said that there was an oversupply of businesses in the same sector around their premises, with the highest rate of oversaturation seen in the "restaurant and bar industry" at 44.6%. Among tenants who failed to recover their key money, 34.2% cited "being unable to find a new tenant due to the landlord's excessive rent increases" as the reason.
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Meanwhile, the downsizing of tenants' stores and business difficulties have led to a decrease in landlords' income. The landlords' total annual rental income was calculated at 168 million won, down from 186 million won in the previous survey. In addition, 5.4% of landlords reported receiving requests from tenants for reductions in deposit or monthly rent due to the poor business performance and worsening management conditions of small business tenants.
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