SMEs Surpass 8.5 Million... Scaling Up in Numbers, but Share of Sales Declines

Number of SMEs Rises by 200,000 in 2024
Sales Reach KRW 3,324 Trillion, Accounting for 43.7% of Total
SMEs' Share of Overall Sales Drops by 1.2 Percentage Points Year-on-Year
SMEs Led by Representatives Aged 60 and Over Increase by 6.8%

In 2024, the number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Korea reached 8.5 million, an increase of 200,000 from the previous year. The total sales of SMEs amounted to 3,324 trillion won, up by 22 trillion won compared to the previous year. However, their share of total sales declined to 43.7%. The proportion of SMEs run by representatives aged 60 and older saw a rapid increase of 6.8% due to accelerating population aging.

Infographic of the "Basic Statistics on Small and Medium Enterprises" as of 2024. Ministry of SMEs and Startups

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced the results of the "Basic Statistics of Small and Medium Enterprises" for 2024 on August 31. These statistics serve as foundational data for developing and implementing on-site, tailored SME policies.

As of 2024, there are 8,499,552 SMEs, representing a year-on-year increase of 200,637 businesses (2.4%). The number of employees reached 19,124,806, an increase of 7,157 people (0.04%) from the previous year. Sales amounted to 3,324.202 trillion won, an increase of 22.9457 trillion won (0.7%) over the previous year.

SMEs account for 99.9% of all businesses, 80.4% of employees, and 43.7% of total sales. While the absolute number of SMEs and their total sales have increased compared to the previous year, SMEs' share of total corporate sales declined from 44.9% in 2023.

The number of SMEs with representatives aged 60 or over rose by 6.8% to 2,693,000, compared to the previous year. The number of SMEs with owners aged 60 and older is increasing more rapidly than in other age groups. By representative age, the largest share of SMEs is led by those aged 60 and over (31.7%), followed by those in their 50s (27.7%) and 40s (22.3%). The rate of increase by age group is 6.8% for those aged 60 and over, 1.8% for those in their 50s, and 1.4% for those in their 30s.

The number of employees at SMEs with representatives aged 60 and over increased by 4.7% year-on-year to 6,514,000, accounting for 34.1% of all SME employees. The sales generated by these SMEs increased by 5.1% from the previous year to 1,074.2 trillion won, making up 32.3% of total SME sales.

By sector, the number of companies increased in: retail and wholesale (38,232, up 1.7%), real estate (31,651, up 2.6%), electricity, gas, and steam (26,511, up 15.8%), professional/science/technology services (20,934, up 6.3%), and other personal services (20,328, up 4.7%).

Conversely, the number of companies decreased in: manufacturing (down 5,715, -0.9%), business facilities management (down 3,305, -1.7%), and accommodation and food services (down 1,770, -0.2%).

By proportion, retail and wholesale leads with 26.3%, followed by real estate at 14.9% and accommodation and food services at 10.5%. The number of SMEs increased in all sectors except these three, which saw declines.

The number of employees increased in 11 sectors, including health and social welfare (up 37,705, 5.0%) and electricity, gas, and steam (up 26,451, 15.1%). It decreased in 7 sectors, such as construction (down 66,181, -3.5%) and retail and wholesale (down 39,600, -1.0%).

Sales by sector rose in 12 industries, including manufacturing (940 billion won, 1.1%), transportation and storage (810 billion won, 5.6%), and health and social welfare (780 billion won, 8.6%). Sales decreased in 6 industries, including construction (down 1.15 trillion won, -3.2%) and real estate (down 710 billion won, -6.7%).

By region, the increase in the number of companies was higher in the Seoul metropolitan area, which saw a 2.6% year-on-year increase to 4,477,130. Non-metropolitan areas saw 2.2% growth to reach 4,022,422 businesses.

However, the rate of employee increase was higher outside the metropolitan area, with a 0.3% rise, compared to a 0.2% decrease within the metropolitan area.

Sole proprietorships total 7,411,000 and account for 87.2% of all SMEs. The number of sole proprietorships increased by 167,506 (2.3%) from the previous year, while the number of corporate businesses (1,088,510) increased by 33,131 (3.1%).

By size, single-person businesses increased while businesses with two or more employees decreased. Single-person businesses make up 78.4% of all SMEs. The number of single-person businesses rose by 3.5% (225,754) year-on-year to 6,666,023, while businesses with two or more employees fell by 1.4% (25,117) year-on-year to 1,833,529.

SMEs with less than seven years of operation number 4,891,000, accounting for 57.5% of all SMEs. Of these, businesses with less than three years of operation total 2,598,000 (30.6%), and those in operation for four to seven years total 2,293,000 (27.0%). Businesses older than seven years number 3,608,000 (42.5%). The number of SMEs with less than three years of history decreased by 3.7% year-on-year, while those with four to seven years increased by 4.0%, and those over seven years increased by 6.2%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.