SEOUL, Dec. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — Retail sales in South Korea grew 8.4 percent on-year in November on the back of major shopping events and growing demand for foodstuff and other items during the World Cup, the industry ministry said Thursday. The combined sales of 25 major offline and online retailers came to 14.8 trillion [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s imports of party supplies, such as decorations and balloons, hit a record-high through November this year, customs data showed Thursday, as the country has lifted social-distancing rules. The combined imports of party supplies over the January-November period came to US$64 million, up 31.7 percent from a year [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean shipbuilders lagged behind their Chinese rivals in terms of new global orders in 2022 to take the No. 2 spot in the world for the second straight year, industry data showed Thursday. Local shipbuilders clinched a combined 15.64 million compensated gross tons (CGTs) in new orders this [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of babies born in South Korea reached yet another record low in October, data showed Wednesday, underscoring the country’s chronic low birthrate. A total of 20,658 babies were born in October, down 0.4 percent from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It marked [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — U.S.-based Amazon Web Services (AWS) remained the leading player in the South Korean market forcloud computing serviceslast year, the country’s antitrust regulator said Wednesday. AWS accounted for 62.1 percent of the local cloud service market in 2021, down from 70 percent tallied in 2020, according to the data compiled [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — More than 70 percent of South Koreans use online streaming services this year amid the protracted pandemic, a government survey showed Tuesday. According to the annual poll conducted by the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), 72 percent of 6,708 respondents said they are using at least one over-the-top media service [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — The youth suicide rate increased in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic to remain as their No. 1 cause of death, data showed Tuesday, in yet another sign of a chronic problem that has plagued South Korea for years. The suicide rate per 100,000 people aged 17 and below reached [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of small companies in South Korea edged down 0.1 percent in 2021 from a year earlier amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Tuesday. The number of small businesses reached 4.11 million in 2021, down 10,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s overseas direct investment fell 5 percent on-year in the third quarter of this year amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the finance ministry said Tuesday. The value of investments made overseas by South Korean companies reached US$16.61 billion in the July-September period, down from $17.48 billion a year [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of franchise outlets in South Korea increased more than 10 percent on-year in 2021, data showed Monday, led by convenience stores and restaurants. Franchise stores numbered 259,662 as of end-December last year, rising sharply from 234,872 a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. [...]