South Korea SME count nears 8.5 million as revenue and employees rise

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups released the 2024 basic statistics for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in South Korea. The number of SMEs rose by 2.4% year-on-year to 8,499,552.

Total employees reached 19,124,806, a slight increase of 0.04%, while total revenue grew by 0.7% to 3,324.2 trillion KRW. Notably, the number of one-person enterprises increased by 3.5% to 6,666,023, whereas companies with two or more employees saw a 1.4% decline.

Sectoral performance varied: wholesale and retail, real estate, and electricity/gas/water industries saw increases in company numbers, while manufacturing and accommodation/food services experienced declines. Regionally, growth in the Seoul metropolitan area (2.6%) outpaced non-metropolitan areas (2.2%).

Additionally, the Ministry announced the ‘2026 Regulatory Free Zone Innovation Week’ to be held in Cheongju, aimed at fostering new industries through regulatory sandboxes.