The number of domestic women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises reached an all-time high of 3,259,211 as of 2022.
The Korea Women's Economic Research Institute released a report titled "Current Status of Women-Owned Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises" on the 26th. This data was analyzed based on the basic statistics of small and medium-sized enterprises for 2022 announced last October and the national business survey.
According to the analysis, the number of small and medium-sized enterprises that are practically owned or managed by women increased by 3.9% compared to the previous year, totaling 3,259,211.
The number of employees reached 5,419,156, an increase of 136,143 (2.6%, with male employees at 2.5%) compared to the previous year. Sales reached 626 trillion won, marking an increase of 10.9% (with male sales at 9.4%) compared to the previous year. The average number of employees per corporation was 1.7, and the average sales per corporation was 190 million won.
When examining by industry, women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises accounted for 64.7% in wholesale and retail, real estate, and accommodation and food services (compared to 43.8% for males in the same industries).
Looking at the three-year average growth rate, technology-based industries such as manufacturing and knowledge-based services showed a faster growth trend of 9.6% compared to men at 7.1%.
By corporation size, small businesses made up 97.5% of all women-owned corporations (compared to 93.5% for men), and the top regions for both women and men were Gyeonggi Province (26.1% for women, 26.3% for men), followed by Seoul in second place, and Busan in third.
Among women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises, 33.7% have been in operation for more than seven years, lower than the 44.2% for male-owned small and medium-sized enterprises. However, those operating for three years or less accounted for 38.1%, higher than the 31.3% among male-owned small and medium-sized enterprises, indicating a higher prevalence of early-stage startups.
In women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises, the proportion of female employees is 71.7%, which is 2.3 times that of male-owned small and medium-sized enterprises at 31.4%.
Lee Jeong-han, director of the Korea Women's Economic Research Institute, noted, "In the challenging domestic and international economic conditions, our women-owned enterprises continue to grow," and stated, "We will strive to accurately assess the current status of women-owned enterprises to derive effective policy measures in the future."