Printed newspapers comprise 86.8 percent of all newspapers, while online newspapers comprise 13.2 percent. (image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s newspaper industry is growing, thanks to local daily newspapers, daily economics newspapers, and online newspapers.
The Korea Press Foundation (KPF) revealed that total sales for the newspaper industry in 2017 came in around 3.7 trillion won (US$3.28 billion), which was a 3.2 percent increase from the previous year.
Total sales in 2016 were around 3.6 trillion won, 0.3 percent lower than in 2015. There were 4,225 newspaper companies in South Korea, 4.9 percent more than the previous year.
Sales of printed newspapers accounted for 3.2 trillion won, 2.3 percent higher than the previous year. Internet newspapers raised 496 billion won in sales, 9.8 percent higher than the previous year.
Printed newspapers comprise 86.8 percent of all newspapers, while online newspapers comprise 13.2 percent.
Among printed newspapers, local daily newspapers accounted for 595 billion won in sales, which was a 21.9 percent increase from the previous year.
Daily economics newspapers generated revenue of 768 billion won, a 9.2 percent increase.
National daily newspapers that make up more than one-third of all newspaper sales, however, were responsible for 1.3 trillion won in sales, which was 2.7 percent less than last year.
“It is likely that the general election in 2016, the presidential election in 2017, and the upcoming local elections this year contributed to higher sales of local media,” said the KPF.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
