(image: Pixabay)
SEOUL, May 31 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of startups in South Korea dropped more than 4 percent in the first quarter of the year amid economic uncertainties at home and abroad, government data showed Wednesday.
A total of 333,000 new companies were set up in the country in the January-March period, down 4.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Startups.
The ministry attributed the decline largely to a tumble in the number of new real estate firms, which resulted from a weak property market and high interest rates.
Also responsible were high consumer prices, interest rates and exchange rates, it said, adding the country’s continued trade deficit had a negative impact.
The number of newly established real estate companies came to 35,000 in the three-month period, down a whopping 47.9 percent from a year earlier.
Excluding property firms, the number of startups climbed 5.8 percent on-year to 299,000.
The sluggish property market also caused the number of new construction companies to shrink 9.4 percent on-year to 17,000.
The number of new manufacturing firms sank 14 percent on-year to 10,000, with that of new transportation and warehousing companies decreasing 13.5 percent to 15,000.
Yet, the number of new hospitality businesses, including restaurants, surged 25.6 percent to 41,000 thanks to the country’s declaration of an end to almost all COVID-19 restrictions and a base effect.
The data also showed the proportion of technology-based startups standing at an all-time high of 18.7 percent of the first-quarter total, up 0.8 percentage point from a year earlier.
(Yonhap)
