À̹ÌÁö È®´ë [Photo by Han Joo-hyung]
The black-swan event of Covid-19 has changed the startup map in South Korea, persuading more to launch e-business rather than mom-and-pop stores.
According to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups on Tuesday, the number of newly established businesses amounted to 343,128 during the July to September period, up 13.3 percent from the same period a year ago.
Wholesale and retail sector added the most number of new companies by 10,883, up 26.8 percent on year. The number of startups in the real estate sector grew by 76,464, up 20.5 percent. They were followed by hospitality and dining industry with 43,193 new firms and construction 16,166.
Boosted by the rising demand for online shopping and simple meal products amid Covid-19, the wholesale and retail sector saw a much faster growth in the number of new businesses in the third quarter compared with a 5.9 percent gain in the first quarter and 14.6 percent in the second quarter.
The hospitality and restaurant sector saw a 2.5 percent on-year decrease in the number of new entrepreneurial businesses due to the impact of social distancing.
À̹ÌÁö È®´ë The number of new ventures in the technology sector increased 9.1 percent to 57,648, with information and communications industry adding 25 percent more new firms compared to last year to 9,793.
¡°The increasing digital and contactless trend in the society boosted the information and technology industry such as software development and supply and computer programming,¡± the ministry said.
The manufacturing sector witnessed its first gain in the number of new startups by 3.5 percent to 12,993 since the fourth quarter in 2018. The ministry attributed the growth to the recovery of production and exports.
The number of new companies in the educational service sector declined 9 percent to 8,635, becoming the only sector in the technology-related industry. The drop was owed to the social distancing measures that prevent students from going to private educational institutions called Hakwon.
The number of new startups from January to September rose 21.9 percent against a year-ago period to 1,152,727.
By Choi Mira
[¨Ï Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]