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Korea's SMEs grow in number and employment, but sales decline

Published: 29 Aug. 2025, 17:08

Officials of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and industry executives attend a small and medium-sized enterprises conference at the KBIZ Korea Federation of SMEs headquarters in Yeouido, western Seoul on July 29. [NEWS1]

The number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Korea grew in 2023, as did their workforce, but total sales fell for the first time since the pandemic.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said Friday that the country had 8.29 million SMEs in 2023, up 3.2 percent, or 256,189, from 2022. SMEs represented 99.9 percent of all companies nationwide.

Employment also rose. SMEs added 161,355 jobs, a 0.9 percent increase, bringing their workforce to 19.12 million. They accounted for 80.4 percent of Korea’s total employment.

However, total SME sales fell slightly to 3,301.3 trillion won ($2.37 trillion), down 0.2 percent, or 7.8 trillion won, from the previous year. This marked the first decline since 2020, when sales had consistently increased. In 2022, SME sales rose 9.7 percent year on year, or 291.9 trillion won, to 3,309 trillion won.

“SMEs managed to hold up even during the Covid-19 pandemic, but overall economic stagnation in 2023 appears to have caused the drop in sales,” said an official from the ministry.

The sector with the largest share of SMEs was wholesale and retail trade, at 2.199 million companies, or 26.5 percent of the total. This was followed by real estate, at 14.9 percent, and accommodation and food service, at 10.8 percent.

The fastest-growing sectors were electricity, gas and steam supply, up 17 percent year on year, information and communications, up 12.2 percent, professional, scientific and technical services, up 7.4 percent, and wholesale and retail trade, up 4.8 percent.

In terms of sales, wholesale and retail trade also accounted for the largest share, at 1,105.5 trillion won, or 33.5 percent of the total. While sales increased in finance and insurance, education services, and arts, sports and leisure services, they declined in real estate, as well as water supply, sewage and waste management.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY LIM SUN-YOUNG [[email protected]]