(image: Korea Bizwire)
SEJONG, Dec. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of newly established companies in South Korea decreased 3.4 percent on-year in 2021 amid weak business sentiment sparked by the pandemic, data showed Thursday.
Last year, the number of newly created firms came to 1.02 million, down 36,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.
The newcomers in real estate accounted for the biggest slice of 25 percent of the total, followed by the wholesale and retail sector with 22.6 percent, and the accommodation and food service segment with 14.5 percent, the data showed.
The data showed that around 90 percent of the new companies had just one worker.
The number of firms that permanently closed in 2020, meanwhile, reached 761,000, up 3.4 percent on-year.
Of the companies established in 2019, only 65 percent made it through 2020, the data also showed.
(Yonhap)
