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Ministry of SMEs and Startups

Statistics

No. of Korean SMEs & Employees by Year

Unit: No. of Firms and Persons and Ratio %

No. of Korean SMEs & Employees by Year - Total (A), SMEs (B), Ratio (B/A,), No. of Firms, No. of Employees, No. of Firms, No. of Employees, No. of Firms, No. of Employees
Total (A) SMEs (B) Ratio (B/A)
No. of Firms No. of Employees No. of Firms No. of Employees No. of Firms No. of Employees
'15 5,893,802 19,259,827 5,889,611 16,032,404 99.9 83.2
'16 6,085,434 19,635,071 6,080,914 16,361,595 99.9 83.3
'17 6,301,013 20,094,913 6,296,210 16,689,525 99.9 83.1
'18 6,643,756 20,591,641 6,638,694 17,103,938 99.9 83.1

Source : National Statistical Office(2018)

No. of Korean SMEs & Employees by Industry

Unit : No. of Firms and Persons and Ratio %

No. of Korean SMEs & Employees by Industry - Total (A), SMEs (B), Ratio (B/A,), No. of Firms, No. of Employees, No. of Firms, No. of Employees, No. of Firms, No. of Employees
Total (A) SMEs (B) Ratio (B/A)
No. of Firms No. of Employees No. of Firms No. of Employees No. of Firms No. of Employees
All Industries 6,643,756 20,591,641 6,638,694 17,103,938 (99.9) (83.1)
A Agricul tu re, For estry & Fishery 83,212 139,349 83,192 137,740 (100.0) (98.8)
B Mining * * 2,675 11,677 (-) (-)
C Manufacturing 569,468 4,702,695 567,815 3,347,843 (99.7) (71.2)
D Electricity, Gas, Steam & Water 74,912 117,981 74,807 79,875 (99.9) (67.7)
E Sewer/Waste Treatment, Raw Material Reproduction & Environmental Restoration 10,381 87,926 10,354 82,793 (99.7) (94.2)
F Construction 454,501 1,963,894 454,131 1,728,437 (99.9) (88.0)
G Wholesale & Retail 1,655,684 3,663,080 1,654,892 3,290,982 (100.0) (89.8)
H Transportation 590,568 1,176,148 590,385 1,039,381 (100.0) (88.4)
I Accommodation & Restaurants 794,230 1,934,182 794,127 1,768,371 (100.0) (91.4)
J Publishing, Video, Broadcasting and Information Service 119,107 681,666 118,841 486,049 (99.8) (71.3)
K Finance & Insurance 52,399 653,174 51,983 139,753 (99.2) (21.4)
L Real Estate & Rental 1,113,196 1,421,155 1,112,509 1,362,047 (99.9) (95.8)
M Specialized, Science & Technical Service 205,507 834,415 205,343 756,543 (99.9) (90.7)
N Business Facility Management & Business Support Service 149,352 1,421,751 149,170 1,128,554 (99.9) (79.4)
P EducationService 202,875 336,607 202,846 325,236 (100.0) (96.6)
Q Health & Social Welfare * * 74,305 602,736 (-) (-)
R Art, Sports & Leisure-related Service 143,528 260,029 143,481 241,526 (100.0) (92.9)
S Repair & Other Individual
Service		 347,849 579,265 347,838 574,395 (100.0) (99.2)

Source : National Statistical Office(2018)

Trend of Business Start-ups

Unit : No. of Firms

Trend of Business Start-ups - '11, '12, '13, '14, '15, '16
'11 '12 '13 '14 '15 '16
Acquisition of New Corporations 65,110 74,162 75,574 84,697 93,768 96,155
Manufacturing 15,557 17,733 18,721 19,509 20,155 19,037
Trend of Business Start-ups - '17, '18, '19
'17 '18 '19
Acquisition of New Corporations 98,330 102,042 1,285,259
Manufacturing 20,629 18,954 52,317

Source : MSS

※ Due to the changes in the way statistics are compiled since 2019, it is difficult to simply compare to the figures before 2018.

(2011~2018 : only incorporated companies, 2019~ : both incorporated companies and individual proprietorships)

Business Ventures and Inno-Biz

Unit : No. of Firms

Business Ventures and Inno-Biz - '98~'03, '04, '05, '06, '07, '08, '09
'98~'03 '04 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09
Venture 43,646 7,967 9,732 12,218 14,015 15,401 18,893
Inno-biz 5,321 2,762 3,454 7,183 11,526 14,626 15,940
Business Ventures and Inno-Biz - '10, '11, '12, '13, '14, '15, '16
'10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 '16
Venture 43,646 7,967 9,732 12,218 14,015 15,401 18,893
Inno-biz 5,321 2,762 3,454 7,183 11,526 14,626 15,940
Business Ventures and Inno-Biz - '17, '18, '19
'17 '18 '19
Venture 43,646 36,820 37,008
Inno-biz 5,321 18,093 18,345